


Puella Madoka Big Hero 6

by WafflesIron



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014), Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Gen, No Incest, Not Happy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-11
Updated: 2015-04-07
Packaged: 2018-03-17 08:39:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3522767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WafflesIron/pseuds/WafflesIron
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hiro hasn't seen his brother in a while. Thats why he's surprised to see him standing before him in an alley holding a gun. And then there's the strange dreams and the creature that calls itself Kyubei asking him to make a contract. Things are about to get much more complicated in Hiro's life. Madoka/BH6 AU (Rating may change to an M later depending on how violent this story gets)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter one

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: So this has been kinda in my head ever since I finished Madoka. I thought it would translate over well with Tadashi and Hiro plus I wanted to do something heartbreaking. This will most likely be different than Madoka's canon. Since I had to change some things around (the characters aren't magical girls for one) to suit the characters and the story. But the basic concept is the same. Warning: If you've seen Madoka you know this will not be a happy story. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Big Hero 6 or Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

Prologue

It had all gone so wrong. How had it all gone so wrong?

He could only stare in horror as he saw his brother struggle to fight.

Hiro knew he was going to lose, the witch known as Walpurgisnacht was just too strong for one person, and he was going to have to watch.

"There is a way you can save him." The voice of Kyubei resounded in his head.

"How?" Hiro was frantic. He would do anything.

"You can make a contract with me. You already have so much natural talent Hiro. I'm certain you could kill Walpurgisnacht in one hit if you wanted. Come, lets make a contract."

In the distance Hiro heard Tadashi scream something at him but he couldn't make out what it was. He had to save his brother. He had to.

"Okay."

Chapter one

Hiro woke up in a cold sweat.

'Just a bad dream' He thought. It had felt so real. He had tried to recall what it was about but he couldn't remember.

Hiro looked over to what used to be his brothers side of the room. After Tadashi had gotten accepted to college he had moved into a dorm room and Hiro didn't get to see him much anymore. He used to climb into Tadashi's bed whenever he had a nightmare…

Hiro swallowed, his chest tightening. 'Come on Hiro, you're not a kid anymore'

Sighing, Hiro made his way to the bathroom to get ready for school. He was a sophomore in high school and while he didn't mind school he didn't exactly like it either. It was a little easy for him and Hiro often found himself bored.

Having finished getting ready Hiro made his way downstairs to where his aunt Cass was busy making breakfast.

"Mornin' aunt Cass."

His aunt smiled, turning her head slightly to greet him. "Morning Hiro. I hope you're in the mood for pancakes."

"Sure, sounds great."

And just like that, the feeling of dread left over from the nightmare had disappeared with the help of pancakes.

By the time Hiro had finished eating, said goodbye to his aunt, and headed off for school, the events of that morning were completely forgotten.

Hiro was staring out the window. He couldn't explain it, but there was something off about today. A strange melancholy feeling that he couldn't describe.

"Hiro!"

Long thin arms enveloped him in a hug and Hiro laughed, the interruption forcing him out of his reverie.

"Hey Honey. Excitable as always I see." It may have seemed weird for a fifteen year old boy to have a girl as his best and only friend, but to Hiro it was natural. He and Honey had met in chemistry class when they were partnered together. Hiro was surprised that there was someone at the school almost as smart as him and the two quickly bonded. They had been inseparable ever since, having many other classes together.

Honey giggled. "I love mornings, it's always so calming and everything feels so fresh."

"Speak for yourself." Hiro grumbled. He was definitely not a morning person.

At that moment the teacher walked in and Honey quickly made her way to her seat behind Hiro.

Honey and Hiro had plans to hang out after school, they had a big project coming up in chemistry and both were pretty excited to get started on it. They were planning on spending the day brainstorming at Hiro's house.

"Hey Hiro, do you mind if on the way to your house we stop by the comic shop?"

They were walking home from school when Honey spoke up suddenly. Hiro quirked his brows, confused. Honey was not one to put off studying but then he noticed her mannerisms; the way she kept twisting the hem of her shirt in her hands with her head down and a slight blush playing on her face and realization hit him.

Hiro grinned. "Ahhhh I see. A gift for Fred I take it?"

Honey's blush intensified. "Y-yeah."

"Heh, okay then."

Honey could only murmur a small thank you as they made their way to the comic shop, a blush permanently stamped on her face the entire way. She was thankful to Hiro for not teasing her about it though.

'Save me'

Hiro paused, hand raised about to grab the latest issue of Iron Man. Honey was far away still picking out the perfect comic book for Fred and completely absorbed in her own world.

'Save me, please'

There it was again. That voice in his head. He looked around wondering if anyone else noticed but nobody was acting any differently. It was so loud, how could they not here?

'Please…'

The voice became more frantic, pleading. And the hair on Hiro's neck stood up. He didn't know why but he had to go to the voice, he had to find it.

Hiro made his way out of the comic shop in a trance. He couldn't explain it but he just knew where to go. The voice was calling him more frequently now, getting louder and louder until it was the only thing he could hear.

And then he saw it. There on the ground in a seemingly deserted alleyway was a small creature. Hiro couldn't tell what it was but it was bleeding. He quickly ran towards it, desperate to help in anyway.

Gingerly he picked up the creature and noticed it looked like a cross between a cat and a fox. It was pure white with golden rings wrapped around it's ears. Hiro had never seen anything like it, but it had to be alive because it was breathing.

"Get away from that thing."

A cold voice said from behind him and Hiro's blood froze cold. He knew that voice but it was one he hadn't heard in a long time. Hiro gulped and turned around to face him.

"T-tadashi…?"

Hiro was in full blown panic mode now. He hadn't seen his brother in months and now, here he was. Standing over him with the coldest glare Hiro had ever seen and was that….a gun in his hand?

"Get away from that thing Hiro. You don't understand."

"W-why? What are you planning on doing with it?" Hiro hugged the creature closer to him and he noticed his brothers grip tighten on the gun in his hand.

"That's none of your concern. Now let it go."

"Leave him alone!" Honey shouted as she ran towards Tadashi barreling into him and knocking him off balance.

"Hiro! Run!" She shouted at him but he couldn't move, too shocked to do anything.

"Dammit…get off me. Neither of you understand what you're doing." Tadashi grunted out as Honey struggled with him. Honey was much stronger than she looked and Tadashi was having trouble keeping her off of him. But finally, he was able to push her back and Honey fell of her back.

To her horror she noticed that Hiro was still there, staring slack jawed at his brother. She quickly scrambled to her feet and grabbed Hiro by the arm.

"Come on Hiro! That man's going to kill us!" She screamed.

That seemed to knock Hiro out of his trance. "He wouldn't! That's my brother! Honey, I have to talk to him!"

But as much as Hiro struggled he couldn't get out of Honey's death grip on his arm as she led him out of the alleyway.

Suddenly the world seemed to shift and everything seemed to morph into strange shapes and impossible colors.

"W-what…? What happened to the alley? Where is this?" Honey was frantic, growing more panicked by the second.

Hiro was getting panicked too. First his brother, now this…what was going on?

A strange eerie sounding laughter seemed to come from all around them and Hiro and Honey looked up in horror to find menacing looking creatures. They were holding scissors and it was clear they were not friendly.

Honey shielded Hiro with her body, hugging him close to her. The both of them closed their eyes expecting the worst.

The sound of flesh being cut open shocked them both into opening their eyes, the fact that it wasn't their flesh being cut shocked them even more.

A man stood before them. Dressed in bright green armor he had dreadlocks and in his hands were two swords. As soon as he killed the creatures the world seemed to shift and go back to normal. They were back in the alleyway now.

"You two ok?" The man addressed them. He was big but something about him was calming.

"Y-yeah." Honey answered for them.

"Who are you?" Hiro asked and the man opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by a loud voice.

"Wasabi!" Tadashi shouted, he looked furious. "What are you-"

"I could ask you the same thing Tadashi." The man called Wasabi interrupted. He glared at Tadashi and Tadashi glared right back.

"Trying to kill Kyubei really? What were you thinking?" And then Wasabi's face softened and he moved closer to Tadashi. "Whatever's going on man, we can get through this. Together. Let me help you."

"You can't help!" Tadashi snapped. Hiro had never seen him this, his brother never, ever got mad. But it was clear something had happened to him in the months they had been apart and it broke Hiro's heart to think about.

"Tadashi…" Hiro said and Tadashi's head snapped towards Hiro's direction. For a split second Hiro could've sworn he saw a look of sadness cross Tadashi's face.

Tadashi swallowed hard. "…Forget it, I already failed."

What did that mean? Failed what? Hiro's brain was swimming and he felt like he was going to faint. Nothing made sense and he just wanted to run towards his brother. To hug him and beg him to come home.

Tadashi turned and left the way he had come. Hiro tried calling after him but Tadashi only ignored him and then he was gone. Hiro dropped to his knees and started to cry not even caring that Honey was there and the stranger that saved them. He felt Honey wrap her arms around him and he was grateful for the contact.

He heard footsteps coming towards them. "Uhhh…excuse me," Wasabi was speaking to them and he was clearly at a loss for what to do "but umm…you have my friend there and I need to heal him."

Hiro had completely forgotten that he was still cradling the creature in his arms and he quickly handed it over to Wasabi.

Wasabi took out a small egg shaped object and held it close to the creature. In a moment the creature opened its eyes and hopped out of Wasabi's arms.

'Thank you, Hiro."

"H-huh? How do you know my name?"

The creature swished its tail. 'I've been watching you Hiro. You're very special and I want to make an offer of sorts to you.'

Offer? What did that mean?

"Umm…Hiro? Is it talking to us?" Honey asked her eyes widening.

"You can hear it too?!"

The creature tilted it's head to the side and studied both of them intently. "My name is Kyubei. I am talking to the both of you through telepathy. You see I really only intended to make Hiro an offer but you show promise as well, Honey. Tell me, do you want to make a contract with me?"

"Contract?" Honey asked her voice wary.

"Yes. I can grant any wish you desire and in return all I ask is that you fight those creatures you saw."

Honey and Hiro shared a look. Neither of them were warrior material and fighting those creatures again didn't seem very appealing and yet…both of them couldn't deny the inexplicable draw that Kyubei's offer had.

Wasabi smiled, as if sensing their thoughts on the matter. "It's really not so bad. Kinda scary at first but you get used to it."

"You…made a contract with Kyubei?" Hiro asked.

"Yes. Those creatures you saw? Those are what's known as witches and it's up to me and people like me to stop them. It's your choice but…I could always use allies."

Hiro and Honey considered what Wasabi had said. If Hiro was being honest the thought of being a superhero was appealing but he hadn't the slightest clue what he could wish for. If he was going to make a wish, it had to be something good.

"I have a suggestion." Kyubei spoke up. "Why don't you two go with Wasabi while he fights and then you two can see firsthand what it's like?"

"But isn't that…dangerous?" Honey asked apprehensively.

"Nah. With me there, you guys got nothing to worry about. I think it's a great idea. That way you absolutely know what you're getting into. But like I said it's your choice."

Hiro was deep in thought. He couldn't shake the feeling that this was the way he was going to find his brother again. He had to do this.

"I'll do it."

"Hiro…?" Honey stared at Hiro searching his face to see what he was thinking.

"I have to do it Honey." And Hiro's face was filled with such conviction that Honey understood instantly.

"Well if you are, then I am too."

Wasabi clapped his hands together, a big grin on his face. "Great! We start tomorrow."

Honey and Hiro didn't talk much on the way home. They decided to forgo the brainstorming session today, both of them were too tired to do anything. Besides, Hiro needed to be alone and Honey understood.

As soon as Hiro got home he made his way straight up to his room, ignoring his aunt's questions about how his day was.

As soon as he entered his room and shut the door Hiro sank to the floor. A sob erupted out of him. A sob he didn't know he had been holding and Hiro cried for his brother.

'What happened to you Tadashi?' He kept asking over and over in his head. Silence was his only response.


	2. chapter two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/n: So much angst in this chapter...
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Big Hero 6 or Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Chapter two

"So, are you ready?" Wasabi smiled at the two teenagers sitting in front of him. They were at a café (Hiro did not want to go to his aunt's, she'd ask too many questions) discussing their plans for the evening. Wasabi was going to take them out on their first experience with a "witch". Well first experience where they weren't scared out of their minds.

Hiro nodded his head, probably a little too excitedly. He couldn't lie, something about everything that happened and the prospect of doing what Wasabi did was exciting. It felt…right somehow.

"I brought a baseball bat." Honey said sheepishly "You know, just in case."

Wasabi smiled "That's actually a good idea in case we get separated. What did you bring Hiro?"

Hiro blushed, remembering the dorky drawings he had done in class. He practically filled his notebook with them.

"Um…this." Hiro set his notebook on the table flipped to the page with all his designs of what looked like a superhero costume. Honey and Wasabi stared at it for a moment, confusion clear on their face. Both of them looked up to Hiro for an explanation.

"They're uh….designs. For a costume…"

A moment passed while Wasabi and Honey processed this information and then Wasabi burst out laughing while Honey squealed about how "adorable" that was.

This only made Hiro blush harder "What?"

"It's just….I love it…you're enthusiasm…I mean." Wasabi said in between laughs.

"It really is cute Hiro. I love your designs."

"…thanks…"

"Come on. We better get going. Witches love to come out at night and it's almost getting dark."

Wasabi had explained a little more about what the contract was and how it worked. The wish that Kyubei granted could be anything they wanted but Wasabi emphasized caution. They had to make sure it was something they absolutely wanted. Once the contract was made every "soldier" was given an egg known as a soul gem. This was where there power came from and also how they found witches. With it Wasabi could use magic and change his clothes to something better suited for battle.

As they walked along the street Hiro mulled over what his wish could be. There was really only one thing he wanted: Tadashi back. But he felt getting Tadashi to come home was something he had to do on his own. Their relationship had to be prepared through time and understanding, not with a wish.

As if sensing Hiro's thoughts Wasabi asked the two of them if they had given any thought to their wishes.

"I have but…I can't think of anything." Honey Lemon sighed.

"Heh, take your time. It can be pretty difficult. What about you Hiro?"

"I can't think of anything either." Hiro frowned and then a thought crossed his mind "What about you Wasabi? What did you wish for?"

Wasabi suddenly stopped walking and his features darkened. "I…wasn't really given a choice on what I could wish for. There was an accident when Kyubei came to me so my options were pretty limited. That's why I want you two to take as much time as you need. You can have the choice I never had."

"I see…I'm sorry." Honey Lemon said "But…it seems hardly fair doesn't it?"

"What do you mean?" Hiro asked.

"Well it's just that…there are people who could use it more. A wish I mean and yet we're the ones who get this…" Honey Lemon trailed off and Hiro instantly knew who she was thinking about. He felt like such an ass for not getting it sooner.

"You're right. There are humans who could probably use it more. But I chose the two of you." Kyubei said from his perch on Wasabi's shoulder (Wasabi had explained to them that Kyubei could only be seen by the ones it had chosen).

Hiro was about to ask why Kyubei had chosen them when Wasabi suddenly stopped.

"Wait the egg is glowing brighter…there!"

Wasabi pointed up towards a building further down the street and Honey Lemon gasped. There, on the roof was a figure and it was obvious what that figure was planning.

"Witches always go after people in a vulnerable state of mind." Wasabi had explained to them earlier and now Hiro understood what he meant and just how terrifying these witches could be. It was going to make this person commit suicide.

Wasabi ran towards the building and Hiro and Honey struggled to keep up. He was fast in his fully transformed state.

As they got closer to the building Hiro could make out that it was a woman. All of a sudden the woman leaned forward and fell off the building. Hiro felt the blood pounding in his ears and next to him Honey Lemon screamed….'Wasabi's not going to make it in time…' he thought.

But Wasabi jumped high into the air, pulling the red sash tied around his waist and used it to grapple on to the woman. Hiro surmised that this was part of Wasabi's magic because the sash twisted and contorted in strange ways to form around the woman. Wasabi was able to catch her and gently set her down on the floor.

Hiro and Honey Lemon caught up to him at that moment, both of them panting heavily. Wasabi was turning her head to the side and Hiro leaned over to get a better look. On her neck was what looked like a tattoo of a flower. It was glowing with an eerie color.

"A witch's kiss." Wasabi explained "It's how the witch got in her head. She's going to be fine but the witch is still around here somewhere."

Suddenly, the "witches kiss" started to glow brighter until it dissolved. The world changed again as soon as that happened and Hiro and Honey Lemon once again found themselves in a world that defied explanation. In any other situation it would've been described as beautiful but here it was terrifying. There were flowers all around them but one in particular stood out. It was a gigantic black flower with roses growing all around it.

"That's the witch." Wasabi said. Once again he took out his sash and whipped it around Hiro and Honey Lemon, forming a protective barrier around them. "Stay here okay?"

"Ah but-" Honey Lemon tried to call after him but he was already rushing towards the witch and all her and Hiro could do was watch.

Wasabi was truly in his own element fighting the witch and it was beautiful to watch, almost like a dance the way he maneuvered around the witch with ease. This one must have been much more powerful than the last one because it seemed to take more hits. But for all its effort it was still no match for Wasabi and Hiro found himself once again in awe. He wanted to do this…he had to.

The witch was finished in a brilliant display of sword technique and Wasabi was making his way over to Honey Lemon and Hiro with a smile on his face. Wasabi took his sash and transformed back as the world became once again normal. Then Wasabi kneeled down towards the girl that was trying to kill herself. She was just waking up.

"W-where…?"

"It's okay, you're alright now."

The girls eyes shot towards Wasabi and then it seemed like the memory of what she was about to do started to come back to her. "Oh…oh…God…I was going to-"

Wasabi wrapped her up in a hug as she started sobbing uncontrollably.

'Wasabi's so kind…' Hiro thought and he wanted to be like him, to help people like him.

Unbeknownst by Hiro, Kyubei was watching him intently. As if it knew what he was thinking.

The next day at school Hiro couldn't seem to concentrate, but this time it wasn't on purpose. His thoughts kept shifting to everything he had seen. Did he really want to do this? It was scary but…Hiro couldn't deny that there was also something exciting about it. But could he do that to aunt Cass? He had her to think about and then there was Tadashi….

Hiro shook his head. Tadashi made it abundantly clear that he wanted nothing more to do with him, as much as that hurt Hiro to think about.

Honey Lemon and Hiro parted ways at the entrance to school. Both of them had a lot to think about and Honey understood that Hiro wanted to be alone.

The closer Hiro got to the Lucky Cat Café though, the more Hiro couldn't shake the feeling of dread building inside of him. He started to walk faster hoping that something hadn't happened to his aunt. That it was just his imagination and he was being paranoid because of last night.

But when he opened the door and his aunt turned around with tears in her eyes he knew that was only wishful thinking.

"Hiro….it's Tadashi he-"

"What's wrong with Tadashi?!" Hiro started to panic. Was Tadashi hurt? Or worse…? Hiro didn't want to think about that.

"Nothing's wrong but…he's here and Hiro…he's not the same. He's different somehow. He barely seemed to recognize me. What happened?"

"I don't know….wait, he's here? Where?"

Cass bit her lip "In your room. I told him to wait for you there. He came here to see you. Said it was urgent. Hiro whats wrong?"

Hiro ignored her as he ran past her to his room. 'Tadashi was here. Tadashi was here and he came to see him…'

Hiro took the steps two at a time and opened the door into what used to be his and Tadashi's room. Tadashi was standing with his back to him holding up a framed picture that Hiro kept on his desk. It was of the two of them back when there was still happiness between them; they had just gone to a science expo. It was one of Hiro's favorite memories.

"Tadashi…?" Hiro entered cautiously. He knew Tadashi wouldn't hurt him but he was scared of him leaving again.

Tadashi quickly put the picture down and turned to address Hiro. "Hello Hiro."

Hiro swallowed, Tadashi's eyes looked so dead. "You uh…you wanted to see me?"

"Yes…I had to discuss something with you. It's about that creature-"

"You mean the one you tried to murder?"

Tadashi either didn't notice the acid behind Hiro's words and the cold glare he sent him or he didn't care. "Yes, well…I had my reasons. Listen Hiro did it ask you to do anything?"

"So what if it did?" One of these days Hiro was going to regret being so proud and letting his frustration at Tadashi having abandoned him get the best of him. Today was not that day. Hiro was never very good at keeping his emotions in check.

Tadashi sighed. "Please Hiro, this is important. You can't listen to anything it says. Promise me you won't-"

"How dare you…" Hiro interrupted his anger now fully visible. His whole body was shaking and Tadashi took a step back.

"You come in here. After MONTHS of me and aunt Cass not hearing from you and then you pretend like you care?! Do you know how many times I called, texted you? And I never got a response back….you can't do that. You don't get the luxury of asking me to promise you anything. Not anymore."

Angry tears were now threating to spill forth but Hiro didn't care. He didn't even know what he wanted anymore. He wanted Tadashi back, he wanted him to hug him and tell him it was all going to be okay. But he also wanted to punch him over and over again. He knew he was being irrational but as far as Hiro knew Tadashi had abandoned him.

Tadashi's hands were formed into fists and he was squeezing his nails into the palms of his hand so hard that blood started to come out. Sadness was all Hiro saw on his face and it was enough for Hiro to regret everything he said.

"Tadashi I-"

"No you're right. I no longer get that luxury. But Hiro I promise you, everything I'm doing is for you. Just please…think about what I said?"

Hiro didn't answer and Tadashi walked past him with his head bowed. He didn't say goodbye.


	3. chapter three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This chapter was fun to write cause I got to write from Honey Lemon's perspective. She's one of my favorite characters. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Big Hero 6 or Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Chapter three

Honey Lemon stared at herself in the mirror wanting to make sure she looked absolutely perfect. It was a Saturday and today was her designated day to see him. She had to make sure she looked her best.

After everything that happened lately she needed this. She smiled to herself as she pictured the look on his face if she told him. He would flip.

Grabbing her things Honey Lemon made her way downstairs and out towards her destination. She waved goodbye to the empty household as she left. Both of her parents worked extensively and as a result Honey barely saw them. She didn't mind really, even if it did get a little lonely.

It was a beautiful spring morning as Honey Lemon walked along the street. She didn't own a car so she mostly walked everywhere. She didn't mind, it was good exercise and she enjoyed the quiet with her thoughts being her only companion.

The woman smiled at her as she walked into the hospital and Honey Lemon smiled back. Most everyone knew her here and appreciated the young girl's sunny disposition.

Honey Lemon gently pushed open the door to her destination and smiled softly at the figure lying in the hospital bed. She walked over to the single chair in the room, one she had occupied so many times before, and sat down.

"Hi Fred, how are you doing? Sorry I'm late today."

Fred didn't respond and Honey faltered. She didn't know why she expected any different. He was in a coma but they said coma patients can hear you right? Honey desperately hoped they were right.

"Oh! I almost forgot. I brought you another comic today. I saw it and knew you'd love it. It's got robots in it! You want me to read it to you?"

Honey paused as if waiting for a response that would never come. For some reason acting like he was talking to her as well helped. It made her feel sane and like her friend was still here.

'And it keeps me from crying all the time.' Honey Lemon shook her head at the thought. She wouldn't dwell on depressing things, she wouldn't.

"I knew you'd say yes!"

And with that Honey Lemon opened up the comic book and proceeded to read it out loud. Making sure to articulate all the sound effects and describe the action. Just like she knew Fred would've loved.

As Honey Lemon left the hospital she put on her best poker face. She was supposed to meet Hiro and Wasabi today for lunch and as dumb as Hiro could be with emotions he wasn't stupid. He would know where she was and then he'd try to cheer her up and Honey definitely did not need that. This was her burden to handle and she needed to do it alone.

Walking into the small café Wasabi had chosen for their destination Honey Lemon was surprised to find Hiro and Wasabi already here.

'This is the same café from last time…he must really like this place.' Honey thought as she waved to her friends.

Hiro was busy eating a turkey sandwich and he tried to say hi through a mouthful of food at her. Which caused Honey to laugh and Wasabi to look grossed out.

"Hiro, chew your food before you speak." Honey Lemon reprimanded him playfully.

Hiro swallowed and stuck his tongue out at Honey "Shut up I'm hungry." He said, taking another huge bite of his sandwich.

"How are you today Honey?" Wasabi asked her, trying to distract himself from Hiro's messy eating.

"I'm fine." And Honey was surprised with how effortlessly she lied.

'No don't think of Fred. Your friends need you now.'

And then a thought struck Honey like a light bulb going off in her head.

"Hey Wasabi…can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

Honey took a moment to formulate exactly how she wanted to phrase the question. Wasabi just waited patiently, a kind smile playing on his face.

"About the wish…does it have to be for yourself?"

Hiro stopped eating and looked up with interest and Wasabi tilted his head to the side.

"What do you mean?"

"Well…like say for example you knew there was somebody who could really use help and they don't have a chance to help themselves, could you use your wish to help them?"

The smile dropped from Wasabi's face and his brows knit together. He took a moment to respond and when he did his voice was quiet, laced with apprehension.

"I…suppose you could…but you'd have to make absolutely sure."

"Of what?"

"That it's what they really want and not just what you want."

Honey felt her skin prickle. She never got angry, but she felt herself getting angry at Wasabi. How could he just assume that it was all for selfish reasons?

'He's just looking out for you.' She reminded herself. Wasabi was not a cruel person, he didn't mean it like that.

"So long as it's a wish you make yourself I can grant it." Kyubei chimed in and Honey noticed he seemed to be staring at her with renewed interest.

"I see. Well, thank you. That…gives me a lot to think about."

Hiro stared at Honey as if trying to make out what she was thinking. He knew who she meant and honestly it had just been so long since Fred fell into the coma. Most had given up hope that he would ever regain consciousness. The only ones who did still hope were Fred's parents and Honey. Hiro just didn't want to see his best friend get her hopes up only to have them broken.

But if Kyubei could bring Fred back…just like that? Hiro tried not to let himself get too excited. He had never met Fred but Honey had told him so much about him that Hiro felt like they were friends as well.

In the end Hiro chose not to add anything to the conversation. And soon enough the topic divulged into what Wasabi wanted to do tonight. He wanted to go witch hunting again and wanted to know if Hiro and Honey would still be going with him.

They both answered yes and Hiro noticed Honey seemed to have a new sense of purpose about her. Like she was determined to learn all she could. In comparison to Honey Hiro felt rather weak…

It was nighttime when they were all supposed to meet and they immediately started on their patrol. There wasn't much conversation among the three friends as Hiro and Honey were lost in thought and Wasabi was focused on the small egg in his hand.; the glowing light guiding him to where he needed to go.

Suddenly the egg started to glow brighter and Wasabi warned them both to be cautious.

"It seems to be coming from the playground…" Wasabi mumbled, more to himself than to his two companions.

As they got closer Wasabi pointed out a small crack and instructed Hiro and Honey too look closer but not to get too close. To Hiro's schock he noticed what looked to be a small egg in the middle of the crack. It looked like Wasabi's but there was something wrong with it. It was pitch black and a faint purple glow seemed to be emanating from it.

"See that? That's a witches egg. If it hatches a witch will come out. We were lucky to get here in time."

As if on cue a crack started to form on the surface of the egg and it was slowly spreading.

"Get ready." Wasabi said, using his egg to transform into his armored self and taking out his weapons.

As soon as the cracks reached the bottom of the egg, the glowing purple aura surrounding it seemed to get more and more erratic. Suddenly the world changed yet again until they were what looked to be a demonic carnival. They were standing on what appeared to be a bridge. Eerie faces peered out of them from all sides and impossible architecture was all around them. In any other circumstance Hiro would have called this fascinating. Now he just found it creepy.

"Come on, let's-"

Suddenly clack tendrils appeared from beneath the bridge and to Hiro's horror they grabbed Honey.

"Honey!" He shouted, his arms reaching towards her in a futile attempt to grab her hand.

She screamed as she was sucked down into the abyss the baseball bat she was holding clanging to the floor loudly.

Hiro rushed forward without thinking and Wasabi quickly grabbed him.

"Hey! What are you thinking? You can't go after her!"

"But-but she-"

"I know, I know. Don't worry, the witch took her to her nest to feed on her energy. We find the witch, we find her."

"That doesn't make me feel any better…" Hiro said, his heart sinking at Wasabi's words. What if they didn't get there in time?

"Like I said, don't worry. You're with me remember? I won't let anything happen to either of you. Now come on lets hurry and find her."

Wasabi once again took out the tiny egg and held it in front of him.

"This place is huge…." Hiro said in awe. He was a little worried, what if it took them a long time to make it to Honey?

"Yeah…it's a labyrinth. Don't worry that's why I have this egg with me. Makes finding these things much easier."

They continued on in silence for a little bit until Hiro decided to ask a question he had been dreading to ask for some time.

"Hey, Wasabi?"

"Yeah?"

"Well…you know when we first met? In the alley? You seemed to know my brother and I was just wondering…"

"About where I knew him from?" Wasabi asked, looking back at Hiro and Hiro stopped walking for a bit. A little shocked that Wasabi didn't seem at all surprised by Hiro's question, like he had been expecting it for a while.

Hiro nodded and continued walking beside Wasabi.

"We went to college together did you know that?" Hiro shook his head and Wasabi continued "Yeah, we had a lot of the same classes. Your brother was a good man…emphasis on the 'was'. No offense."

"None taken." Hiro mumbled. Did he really want to hear this?

"When my accident happened and I made a contract with Kyubei I stopped going to class. You see Hiro, this life? It's a lonely one. You won't be able to have any friends, no job, and your family can never know."

Hiro swallowed, was this really what he wanted then?

"As soon as it happened I dropped out of school, left home, the works. I was reported missing a couple of days later by my uncle. I'm sure he thinks I'm dead by now…" Wasabi trailed off lost in his own thoughts, a sad smile playing on his face. "Anyways, that's where your brother comes in. He refused to accept that I would just disappear. Too smart for his own good that one…so he went searching for me and well he found me."

"What happened?"

"Getting to that…anyways, the problem wasn't that he found me so much as how he found me. I was in the middle of hunting a witch and your brother got caught up in it. I had to save his ass and after that he forced me to tell him everything. So I did."

"So why is my brother so against Kyubei then?"

"That I do not know. Last I checked your brother was still a regular old human and the next thing I know he's a witch hunter just like yours truly."

"Wait…my brothers like you?" Hiro was shocked, Tadashi had seemed different but not like that…

"Yeah…you didn't notice? Not just anybody can see Kyubei you know."

"I assure you both I did not make a contract with Tadashi."

"Well if you didn't then who did?" Hiro asked.

"I don't know. But there is more than one of me on your planet you know."

"Oh…yeah I guess there would be." And Hiro felt incredibly stupid for not thinking of that sooner. Of course there would be more than one Kyubei.

"Ah. Well reminiscing's over. Looks like we're here." Wasabi said as they entered a gigantic room. To Hiro it looked like a circus tent complete with blinding colors. And then he noticed the figure lying on the floor.

"Honey!" He shouted making a run for her but Wasabi beat him to it. Wasabi crouched down to check if she was still breathing.

"Is she okay?"

"Yeah…her pulse is a bit faint but she's still alive. Just unconscious." Wasabi then picked her up and brought her back towards Hiro.

"Watch after her okay? The witch should still be around here." Wasabi warned, once again taking out his weapons and moving closer to the center.

A high pitched scream broke out all around them. The sound was deafening and Hiro covered his ears and gritted his teeth. It sounded pissed. Wasabi used his sash to form a protective barrier around Hiro and Honey just like last time.

"I don't think its happy I took it's meal…"

If Hiro wasn't cradling Honey in his arms he would've smacked Wasabi for that comment.

Out of the far corners of the room a tiny figure appeared. As it got closer Hiro noticed it looked like a stuffed rabbit, bright pink with spots all over. Its appearance may have been deceiving but that didn't make it any less dangerous. It demonstrated as much when it saw Wasabi and broke out into a sprint so fast all Hiro could see was a blur.

Wasabi grinned and charged forward to meet the witch head on. From there all Hiro could make out was the glow of Wasabi's swords and a pinkish blur.

A loud boom erupted as Wasabi sent the witch flying into the far side of the wall. He charged at it with impressive speed and impaled it's tiny body on his sword. The witch screamed, jerking around widely until finally it crumbled away.

Wasabi turned around towards Hiro and Honey with a huge smile on his face. He opened his mouth to say something but then-

A huge monstrosity came out of the dead carcass of the witch. It was pitch black and had an terrifying mask attached to it's head. One that made it look like it was constantly smiling. Wasabi didn't have any time to react other than to turn around, shock evident on his face.

The mask of the monstrous witch seemed to grin even wider and then it's mouth opened wide.

And bit into Wasabi's head. Blood splattered on the walls of the witches labyrinth. The witch lifted Wasabi's limp form off the ground, tossing his body into the air and swallowing him whole.

Hiro's mind went into shock, Wasabi's sash that was protecting them no longer active. It fell to the ground and both Hiro and Honey were now vulnerable. The witch turned it's attention to them and Hiro felt his blood run cold.

Wasabi was dead…and now he and Honey were going to die as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Please don't kill me. >.


	4. chapter four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting into the super heavy stuff now....
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Big Hero 6 or Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Chapter four

Hiro braced himself for an attack that never came. His eyes were squeezed shut but when he opened them he saw-

"T-Tadashi…?"

His older brother had come to save him and was now facing off against the witch. How had he known where to find him? Hiro did not know, but he was glad for the rescue.

"Hiro, stay there." Tadashi commanded and his voice…so unlike Tadashi's. It sent shivers down Hiro's spine. He had never seen his brother like this. Tadashi was livid and it scared Hiro.

The witch was recovering from the blow Tadashi had sent it only moments ago and was now preparing for a second attack. Tadashi didn't give it the luxury. Hundreds of bullet holes formed on the witch's skin out of nowhere, it let out an ear piercing scream and then burst.

What Hiro saw made no sense. It was like he blinked and the next thing he knew Tadashi was gone and the witch was dying. Then, another blink and Tadashi reamerged and the world was once again normal. Was Tadashi that fast…?

Tadashi was standing before him, saying something but the words made no sense. His mouth was moving but nothing he was saying made sense. Frustrated, Tadashi shook Hiro's shoulders roughly.

"-iro..-iro…Hiro!" That did it. Hiro blinked, Tadashi was very close and shouting in his face. Hiro unconsciously backed up a little.

Tadashi sighed "You okay?"

Hiro nodded his head yes, still a little dazed. Then, Tadashi extended his hand towards Hiro but to Hiro's surprise he flinched without meaning to. Tadashi looked hurt for a moment but didn't say anything.

"I can get up on my own…" Hiro mumbled.

"Okay…I was just trying to help."

Awkward. Things were so awkward between them. It made sense considering they didn't end on the best of notes last time. But it still hurt, since they were always so close.

"Why don't you let me help you get her home," he motioned towards Honey Lemon "and then I can take you back to aunt Cass?"

"Why?"

"Because I want to make sure you're safe of course."

Hiro debated this for a moment.

"…okay…"

The walk home was silent. Hiro dropped Honey Lemon off in her bed without incident, and he was surprised that Tadashi knew how to pick a lock. He decided not to ask where his brother had picked up that particular skill though.

Hiro was grateful Tadashi didn't try to make him talk about all he had seen and he was even more grateful that Tadashi didn't try to do anything to Kyubei.

Kyubei was quiet and it made Hiro wary. He didn't know why but it seemed like the creature wanted this to happen, wanted Wasabi to…

Hiro stopped thinking about Wasabi at that point. It was too much. Everything was too much.

Aunt Cass was asleep on the couch, some horror movie playing on the TV. She must've been waiting up for him and Hiro was not looking forward to the questions tomorrow. But for now, Hiro was grateful he could go to his room in peace.

Wasabi…

Just thinking about him hurt. He was Hiro's friend and to die like that…

Hiro slapped his hand against his mouth and ran to the bathroom, emptying the contents of his stomach in the toilet.

He started to cry. Ugly sobbing, making sounds he had never heard come from his body before. Everything hurt and with every sob the pain seemed to intensify. He fell asleep in the bathroom. Too tired to move to his bed.

Unbeknownst to Hiro, Kyubei watched him intently from the windowsill.

Honey Lemon kept trying to call Hiro's cell. She hadn't seen him or Wasabi in days. When she went to his aunt's café all she was told was that Hiro was sick and not wanting any visitors.

"You know how Hiro gets when people fuss over him." His aunt had said, a smile playing on her face.

Honey did know. But she couldn't shake the feeling that it was more than a simple sickness. She wasn't stupid and there was something that Hiro wasn't telling her. And she was going to find out. So under the guise of delivering soup to the "sick" Hiro (Honey doubted that sick story) the well intentioned aunt Cass let her up to his room.

"Hiro, your friends here to see you."

The lump (in any other circumstance Honey would have found this adorable) on the bed wiggled a little and a black tuft of hair popped out.

"I'll just leave you two to it." Cass smiled at Honey Lemon and left the two friends alone.

Honey walked over towards Hiro cautiously, setting the offering of soup upon his desk. She sat on his bed and the Hiro lump wiggled away from her.

Honey Lemon sighed "Hiro, I know something happened. Please talk to me."

A muffled "no" was all she got in response.

Frustrated, Honey grabbed the edge of the blanket and pulled. She gasped at the sight of Hiro, he looked like hell.

"Oh Hiro…" Honey felt like she might start crying so she pulled Hiro into a hug, attempting to comfort him.

"Whatever it is…whatever happened you can talk to me okay? I'm always here for you Hiro…"

Fresh sobs wracked Hiro's body and he clutched his best friend tighter.

"Wasabi…he…he…"

He told her everything then and Honey just listened until he was done. She stayed with him for the rest of the day after that and Hiro was grateful for the company and her friendship.

Honey Lemon walked into the hospital, she needed to see Fred. Comforting Hiro (while she was happy to do it) took a lot out of her and now she needed to take care of herself.

Taking her usual seat in front of Fred, she smiled at his sleeping form.

"I miss you Freddie…you could always cheer me up and now…"

Tears she didn't even know she was holding in fell on her knees.

"Now I feel like I'm breaking…."

She wiped her the tears off on her sleeve.

"You know that boy Hiro I told you about? We had this friend Wasabi, you would have liked him, he was so sweet but…he…he…he died and I couldn't stop it. I was so useless. I'm supposed to protect Hiro and I couldn't….he's like a little brother to me and I couldn't protect him and now Wasabi…"

Tears were falling freely now and Honey Lemon threw herself upon Fred's unconscious form.

"You don't always have to be useless you know. You can protect him."

Honey Lemon felt like she had just been slapped across the face and slowly she looked up to see Kyubei staring at her. Tail swishing slowly back and forth.

"I can…?"

"Yes. Form a contract with me and then you never have to worry about anything bad happening to him ever again."

Honey Lemon sat up straighter now, wiping the tears off on her sleeve. Could she do this? Do what Wasabi did? She was scared but…

Thoughts of Hiro formed in her mind. He was so tiny she had to…

Fresh resolve appeared on her face.

"I'll do it."


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I get to introduce Gogo in this chapter yay~ I'm trying to go more in depth for the fighting scenes. I've never been very good with that so I need practice. Also I've been listening to a lot of Creature Feature while writing this and it's just wonderful background music for this story. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Big Hero 6 or Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Chapter five

Hiro knew aunt Cass suspected Hiro wasn’t sick. She wasn’t stupid but still Hiro hoped that he could fool her at least a little longer. But he also knew she wouldn’t say anything. That was one of the things he loved about his aunt, she wouldn’t force him to talk if he didn’t want to.

Hiro sighed. He had to go to school eventually. He had to do something eventually but every time he tried to do anything the images…

He slapped a hand to his mouth. ‘Not again. Please not again…’

He wanted to be like Wasabi so much…was that what could happen to him too?

Would it happen to Tadashi too…?

A soft knocking brought him out of his thoughts. It was coming from the window.

Hiro poked his head out of his covers to investigate and sure enough there was a figure staring at him from the other side of his bedroom window. He couldn’t make out any features but he knew those eyes.

“Honey?!”

Hiro quickly got out of bed and made his way over to the window to pry it open.

“What are you doing here? How did you-“

Hiro stopped his questions as soon as he got a better look at her. She was wearing bright pink and purple armor.

“Honey…you-“

“It’s pretty great huh?” She had a huge grin on her face and although Honey was the happiest person Hiro had ever met he swore he had never seen her this happy before.

“Uh yeah…but this is the third floor, how are you-“ Hiro stopped once he looked down. Honey was standing on some bright green goop?

‘What the…?’

“You gonna invite me in or what?”

“Huh? Oh! Yeah, come in.”

Hiro stepped aside to let Honey Lemon into his room and she hopped off of the bright blue goop to land gracefully onto the floor. Hiro was kind of impressed.

“What happened to you?” Hiro was pretty sure he knew the answer and even though he didn’t want to ask he had to know for sure.

Honey Lemon didn’t answer at first. She walked around the room slowly, taking in all of Hiro’s possessions.

“…I did it Hiro.”

“Did what?” Hiro said slowly. ‘Please no.’

“I made my wish.”

Hiro felt like someone splashed cold water on his face.

“You…did what?”

“Don’t be angry please. Look, I know what happened to Wasabi-“ Hiro flinched when she said his name but Honey chose not to acknowledge it “was hard but I can do this.”

Hiro didn’t say anything, he couldn’t. He felt like he might faint and everything seemed to be swimming.

‘Please no. Not her too.’

“Hiro…? Say something Hiro.”

Honey Lemon put her hand on his shoulder and the contact brought Hiro out of his thoughts. He looked up at her, his best friend. Her eyes were searching his for answers to what he was thinking.

“I just…I…I don’t want what happened to Wasabi to happen to you too.”

Hiro was squeezing his eyes tight, hands balled into fists. He didn’t want to look at her right now but to his surprise he was being enveloped in a warm hug.

“H-Honey…?”

“It’s okay Hiro. I’m not going anywhere, I promise. Nothing will ever happen to me.”

She pulled away from him slightly and grasped his face in between her hands.

“I did this to protect you and I intend to keep that. So don’t worry all right?”

Hiro wasn’t sure he believed her but he nodded anyways. For her benefit.

“Now then, I want to test out these new powers I got. What do you say to getting out of this house with me and going on patrol?”

Hiro debated it for a bit. Was he ready to go out again?

“…Okay.”

Honey Lemon smiled, taking his hand in hers and together the two of them set off into the night. Hiro wasn’t sure he was ready but if Honey was with him then that gave him strength.

**************

Finding a witch was harder than Wasabi made it look it turned out. And the two friends felt like they had been walking for hours, with Honey Lemon holding her egg (It was a lovely shade of pink) out in front of her.

“Ah! There!” Honey Lemon shouted suddenly startling Hiro. She took off running in the direction of the witch dragging Hiro behind her. And to Hiro’s surprise he started to laugh for the first time in a week. Her excitement was infectious and Hiro realized this is exactly what he needed.

Honey Lemon stopped in front of a small building. “I think this is where it is. You ready?”

Hiro nodded but before the two could enter the witches dimension a flying disc came out of nowhere startling both of them.

“Wha-“

“Hey!” A small figure jumped down in front of them. A woman with short black hair and purple streaks dressed in yellow and black armor was glaring at them. “Not so fast. I claimed this region.”

“Claimed this-what are you talking about? Claimed this region?” Honey Lemon pushed Hiro behind her as she addressed the woman.

“Exactly what I said. This place used to belong to that Wasabi guy right? Well now I want it. So this witch is mine and it seems like it might drop a grief seed so…you can go now.”

“Grief seed…?”

The woman scoffed. “You kidding me little girl? You don’t even know what a grief seed is? Didn’t that Wasabi guy teach you anything?”

Honey Lemon bristled. Something about this woman set her teeth on edge. She couldn’t place it but she didn’t seem…all there. She remembered Wasabi warning her about witch hunters who fought each other for fun and contest. Apparently, witch hunters like Wasabi were rare. The last thing Honey wanted was a fight with a potential ally.

“Look, maybe we could work something out? We could help each other defeat the witch and then you can take this grief seed or whatever.”

“Hmph…yeah, like I’d believe that.”

“I’m being honest. I don’t want to fight so maybe we could-“

“You know you’re really starting to piss me off. People like us don’t get the opportunity to be goody two shoes in our line of business. That’s what got that Wasabi guy killed wasn’t it?”

“Don’t you talk about Wasabi like that!” Hiro shouted, to the surprise of both Honey Lemon and the woman.

“Hiro…?” He was fuming and it scared Honey. She had never seen Hiro this mad before.

“Ooooh…so the shrimp can speak eh?” The woman’s expression was completely uninterested and for some reason this pissed Hiro off even more.

“You. Shut. Up.” Hiro was visibly shaking now and he glared at the woman. “Wasabi was much better than you could ever be. So you. Shut. Up.”

“Well I kinda doubt that considering he’s you know…dead and all.”

That did it. Hiro lunged at her but Honey quickly grabbed him around the middle.

“Hiro! Are you insane?”

“She has no right to talk about our friend that way!”

Honey was struggling to hold Hiro back and the woman just laughed at the display in front of her.

“You should keep a better leash on that one.” The woman said, that same bored expression playing on her face. “Before I decide to put him down for you.”

“I’d like to see you-“

“Hiro, stop.”

Hiro immediately stopped struggling in Honey Lemon’s arms. Her voice sent a chill down his spine. He had never heard her get angry. Shouting was one thing, shouting Hiro was used to (it came with the territory when you got in as much trouble as he did), but this? This was the quiet anger that chilled you to the bone. The kind he never expected Honey to be capable of.

Even the woman was surprised by it, taking a slight step back.

Honey Lemon released Hiro and stepped closer to the woman. “If it’s a fight you want. Then fight me. Right here, right now.”

“Heh, interesting…” The woman smirked slightly this time. “Names Gogo by the way, nice to meet ya.”

“Honey Lemon.”

Hiro realized he should probably get to cover and quickly did so, hiding a ways away behind a tree. Not the best cover but it was something and he could still watch the fight.

Honey Lemon threw a tiny glowing ball at Gogo and she dodged to the side. It exploded in a flash of bright green, covering the area in goop. Gogo charged at Honey and Hiro was shocked, she was fast. Really fast.

Gogo continued her pursuit towards Honey and Honey tried to hit her with another ball but she missed again. It was here that Hiro recognized Honey’s disadvantage, her weapon was meant for long range combat and against a fast opponent like Gogo…Honey was just too slow.

Honey Lemon didn’t even have time to react before Gogo was in her face, a smile on her lips. She paused for a moment, seeming to relish in the shock on Honey’s face before she kicked her in the stomach. Hard.

Honey Lemon was sent flying backwards and Hiro was running towards her.

“No.” Honey Lemon said towards Hiro firmly, effectively stopping him in his tracks.

“I’m not down yet.”

“Good.” Gogo smirked again.

Honey Lemon got to her feet and the fight began again. Gogo once again charged at Honey but this time instead of throwing a ball directly at Gogo Honey aimed towards her feet. It exploded on the ground but this time it was blue. The ground froze and Gogo yelped as her feet slid out from under her. Honey Lemon leaped into the sky, her leg extended to come crashing down on Gogo’s face.

Gogo twisted out of the way and Honey landed next to her instead, the ice cracking underneath her heels.

“So that’s how you want to play huh? Fight to the death?” Gogo said, breathing heavily. She brought her leg up kicking Honey Lemon in the back sending her forward. Honey Lemon hit her head on the ice and her vision started to blur. She was pretty sure she had at least a mild concussion but before she could respond she was being flipped over onto her back. A knee came down onto her stomach and Honey Lemon started to wheeze. Gogo shoved a disc against her throat.

“This what you wanted huh? No more playing?” Gogo said, malice was in her eyes. Honey looked over towards Hiro who was staring at the two of them, open mouthed and terrified.

‘Hiro…I’m sorry. Looks like I won’t be able to keep my promise…’

Honey Lemon closed her eyes and braced herself for a death that never came. Confused, she opened them only to see Gogo being lifted into the air and tossed aside like she weighed nothing. A hand was reaching down towards her and Honey blinked through the haze from her previous head injury to see-

“You?!”

It was the man who had tried to kill Kyubei the last time she saw him, the one Hiro said was his brother, the one who she was pretty sure was bad news and he had saved her.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not too happy with this chapter...I don't think it's the best I've written. Also this is mostly based on memory so if I get some spellings and events wrong I'm sorry >.

Tadashi stood before her, hand extended in an effort to help her up. After a moment Honey Lemon took the hand he offered her and Tadashi pulled her to her feet. 

“…thanks.” 

Tadashi said nothing. Instead he was looking past Honey Lemon at Gogo, a wary expression on his face. Gogo was just starting to get up and she looked pissed. 

“You-“ she paused as soon as she saw Tadashi, her bravado disappearing instantly. 

For a moment she and Tadashi stared each other down before Gogo broke eye contact.   
“…forget it. This isn’t over you.” she pointed at Honey Lemon before leaving just as quick as she came. 

Hiro ran over to Honey Lemon and Tadashi. He looked at Tadashi warily, remembering how well their previous interactions went. 

“Tadashi I…” he trailed off. What was he going to say? Come home? I miss you? Somehow he doubted Tadashi would even listen to anything he said. 

Tadashi said nothing, he just turned to leave. He didn’t even acknowledge Hiro’s presence. 

Hiro felt like such a coward. Tadashi was leaving him again. 

Tadashi was leaving, and he couldn’t stop him. 

“…Hiro, I think I want to go home…” Honey Lemon said. 

“…yeah.”   
*******************  
Honey Lemon had just dropped Hiro off. She had school the next day but she knew she was going to skip. And she never skipped. She plopped down on her bed, her whole body feeling heavy and exhausted. 

She couldn’t get the events of earlier out of her head. She had almost died and Hiro’s older brother had saved her. 

Somehow she felt he hadn’t saved her because he wanted too…

Kyubei hopped onto Honey Lemons bed next to her, watching her the entire time. He had been spending more time with her ever since she made her contract.   
Honey Lemon didn’t acknowledge him, instead looking at the soul egg in her hand.

“Hey, Kyubei? Gogo mentioned something…a grief seed…? What is that?” She finally decided to ask. It had been bothering her for a while and the way Gogo mentioned it made it seem important. 

“A grief seed is an egg witch’s drop sometimes. It can hatch into another witch if left alone. However, witch hunters like you need them for another purpose. Look closely at your soul egg.” 

Honey Lemon did so. It didn’t seem any different to her, maybe a little discolored but that was it…

“It looks a little discolored…?”

“That’s because of the magic you expended earlier in your fight with that other witch. Every time you use magic your soul egg will become more and more discolored until it turns completely black. That’s why grief seeds are so important, witch hunters can use them to turn them back to normal and keep using magic.” 

“I see…what happens if I don’t find any grief seeds though?” 

Kyubei didn’t answer but he didn’t need to, Honey Lemon knew whatever it was it couldn’t be good.

“…I guess I’ll just have to be careful from now on then…”  
******************  
For the first time since making her contract Honey Lemon went to go see Fred. She spent the day with him but it offered her no comfort. Seeing him like that…  
She couldn’t help but wonder if she wasted her wish. She had the opportunity to fix him, to make everything right and instead she wished for the power to always protect Hiro. She wondered if that was a mistake. 

It was just turning dark when she decided to leave the hospital and to her surprise she had a visitor. 

Hiro, her best friend and the last person she wanted to see right now was standing before her. 

“Hiro? How did you know I was here?” 

Hiro smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Lucky guess. You weren’t in school today.” 

“…yeah.” 

“Do you want to go for a walk?” Hiro asked after a pause. 

“Ok.” 

The streets of San Fransokyo were loud as usual. Nighttime always seemed busier than the day and Honey Lemon and Hiro decided to stop on a bridge overlooking the highway. Much of their walk was spent in silence. Neither of them really knew what to say to the other. It was a rare occurrence for them.   
But the quiet would not last long.

“Hey, blondie!” A familiar voice called to them. Both Honey Lemon and Hiro turned to look towards the direction of the voice and saw Gogo. 

“You?” Honey Lemon and Hiro asked simultaneously. 

Gogo regarded them with a bored expression on her face. She blew a bubble with her bubblegum and it made a loud popping noise that seemed to reverberate all around them in the stillness of the night. 

“Kids shouldn’t be out this late.” She said simply. 

“…We’ll keep that in mind. Excuse us.” Honey Lemon turned to leave, putting her arm around Hiro to lead him away from Gogo. 

“Hey, I wasn’t done with you.” 

Honey Lemon stopped walking, her entire body went rigid and she was immediately on guard. She didn’t want a fight…

“What do you want?” She asked warily. 

Gogo blew another bubble. “I want a rematch. Now that it’s just the two of us. Well, I mean the shrimps here but who’s counting him right?” 

“I’m not fighting you.” 

“I didn’t say I would give you a choice.” Gogo looked over at Hiro pointedly then and Honey Lemon felt her skin crawl. She put her arm out in front of him. 

“How could you even…? We’re supposed to protect people.” 

“Hmph, like I care what happens to him. You start caring and that’s how you get hurt. I suggest you stop protecting that kid, it will only end badly for you.”   
Honey Lemon glared at her. She was patient with a lot of people, maybe even more than she should have been. Honey Lemon did not hate but for the first time she could say with absolute certainty that she hated Gogo. 

“If I fight you will you leave him alone?”

Gogo smirked at that. “Sure blondie.” 

“Honey, don’t-“ 

“Stay out of this Hiro.” 

Gogo held out her egg and transformed in a flash of yellow light. Honey Lemon held out hers and was about to do the same when Hiro suddenly grabbed the egg out of her hand. 

“Hiro-“ 

“I’m sorry Honey, I can’t let you do this!” 

Hiro tossed Honey Lemons soul egg over the bridge. He knew he was being irrational but he couldn’t let his friend get hurt again. 

The egg fell onto a passing truck which quickly went out of sight. 

“Hiro how could you-“ Honey Lemon started to say then all of a sudden her eyes glazed over and her body gave out. 

Hiro made an attempt to catch her but crumbled under her weight and the two fell onto the ground. 

“Honey…? Whats wrong? Wake up!” Hiro shook Honey Lemon over and over again but no matter how hard he tried she wouldn’t respond. 

Gogo looked on horrified. This had never happened before…

“Hey! What happened to her?” Gogo rounded on Kyubei. 

“She’s dying.” Kyubei said simply.

“Dying? What do you mean dying? I didn’t touch her.” 

“You didn’t have to. That was a very foolish thing to do Hiro, throwing away your friend like that.” Hiro looked at Kyubei then he was in near hysterics now, still trying to wake 

Honey Lemon up. 

“When we make the contract with you humans we have to put your soul in a safe place, that’s what the egg is for. You don’t really think that you could fight witches the way your   
body’s are now do you?” 

“You mean to say…you put our souls in there?!” Gogo shouted the question at Kyubei. She was shaking now and she felt like she was going to be sick. 

“Yes. Why do humans always react like this? What does it matter where your soul is? Whether it’s inside your body or not…so confusing.” 

“You-“ Gogo started to say but was interrupted by an unlikely figure that seemed to appear out of thin air. 

Tadashi was standing in front of Hiro and Honey Lemon. He was breathing heavily and seemed to be holding something. Gogo looked at him wide eyed. 

‘Where did he come from…?’

“Here…” Tadashi said in between huffs. He held out his hand towards Hiro, opening his palm to reveal Honey Lemon’s soul egg. 

Hiro quickly snatched it out of his hand and placed it in Honey Lemon’s. He held his breathe waiting to see if it would work. 

‘Please…’

Honey Lemon’s eyes slowly started to regain their focus, life seemed to come into her body and she sucked in a breath suddenly. 

She blinked a couple times. Looking around her she saw Hiro, Gogo, and…was that Tadashi? 

“What-what happened to me?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tadashi's a creepy stalker and watches Hiro to make sure he's okay. Thats my explanation.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took me a couple of days. Usually I try to be faster with my updates. I've just had a really bad couple of days and was just really depressed so thats why this took a while. I'm feeling better now so hopefully I should be able to update faster. ^^
> 
> I added a lot of fluff in this chapter before we get to the really horrible shit because I need it. ;_; (Why did I think writing this would be a good idea...)
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Big Hero 6 or Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Honey Lemon once again walked into an empty house.

'They must be working late again…'

Hiro had told her about what happened and she put on a brave face for him but inside…

She was breaking, little by little cracks were starting to appear on her psyche and she felt she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

But she had to be strong.

For Hiro.

She didn't even make it to her bed before collapsing onto the floor. Kyubei walked up beside her, staring at her.

"Why didn't you tell me…?" Her voice cracked and she found that she didn't even care.

"You didn't ask about the details of the contract. You can't get mad at me for that."

"You tricked me." Honey Lemon was surprised by the venom in her voice. What was wrong with her? She felt less and less like herself every day.

"I assure you I did not trick you. How could I have when you did not properly ask about the details? Really, that is your fault."

Honey Lemon folded into a ball. She wanted to disappear, she wanted it all to go away. She would never have agreed if this was the result…

Suddenly a light tapping sounded from her window. Honey Lemon looked up only to see the last person she expected.

"Yo." Gogo was waving at her from the other side of the window.

Honey Lemon just stared at her dumbfounded. Gogo was the absolute last person she wanted to see right now.

Gogo sighed. "Look I'm not gonna try to kill you or anything ok? I just…I don't know, wanted to talk I guess?"

And to Honey's amazement Gogo was actually blushing, and doing a poor job of hiding it.

Honey Lemon walked over to her window and opened it, letting Gogo into her room. Gogo glared at Kyubei upon seeing him and to Honey's amazement Kyubey actually left out of Honey's window. Honey found herself grateful for that. She wasn't in the mood to entertain the strange creature any more than she had to.

"Nice room you got here. It's uh…very pink." Gogo shuffled awkwardly. Honey Lemon found her adorable despite herself.

"Thanks." And to Honey's surprise she found herself giggling. It had been a while since she giggled.

"I like your stuffed animals." Gogo said, flicking a stuffed white bear on the nose.

"Yeah I know it's kind of childish I just find them cute you know? I probably have way to many though…"

"No, no, it's nice…I mean I'm homeless so you know…"

The awkwardness was back and Honey found herself struggling for something to say. But then Gogo plopped down on her bed.

"Ah…this is nice. That's it." She smacked a fist against her open palm, determination on her face like she just got the best idea ever. "I've decided I'm crashing here tonight. You can have the floor. You looked comfy enough on it before."

Honey Lemon just looked at her incredulously. The nerve of this girl…

"First, you try to kill me and now you want my bed?"

"Hey, like I said I'm homeless and beggars can't be choosers. Trust me blondie, if I had options I'd take them. Besides," Gogo's expression took on a more serious note "we need to talk."

Honey Lemon wrapped her arms around herself and looked away from Gogo. "What is there to talk about?"

"You know what. You almost died tonight, don't say anything." Gogo held up a hand when she saw Honey start to open her mouth, presumably to ask why she cared now all of a sudden. "Look, I figure Kyubey screwed us both so what I'm saying is I want to help you. So, truce?"

Gogo held out her hand and Honey Lemon regarded it carefully. In another life perhaps she and Gogo could have been friends. She hated to admit it but she did find the girl endearing when she wasn't trying to kill her and she did need a friend. Hiro was great but he was well…Hiro.

"…How do I know I can trust you?"

Gogo sighed. "Look, what happened back there? Scared the shit out of me. And I don't scare easy. And it made me realize that…I'm tired. I'm tired of fighting and I'm tired of being alone but if I had a friend…I don't know, I guess life just wouldn't suck as much ya know?"

That gave Honey Lemon pause. She wasn't expecting this…rawness from Gogo of all people. She debated it in her head. Gogo was powerful and an ally (she wouldn't say friend just yet) would be nice.

Honey Lemon extended her own arm and took Gogo's hand in her own.

"Ok but if you try to hurt Hiro-"

"I know, I know, the kids off limits. I wasn't going to hurt him in the first place geez…"

Somehow Honey Lemon doubted that but she appreciated Gogo trying to make her feel better.

"So…can I sleep in your bed? It really is comfy."

Honey Lemon sighed. This was going to be fun…

"Fine. But move over, I'm not sleeping on the floor."

"Somehow, I knew I would find you here."

Hiro was sitting in front of the graves of his parents. They died when he was much younger, and although Hiro didn't remember them he liked to visit their graves from time to time. It felt comforting, especially now that Tadashi was gone.

But upon hearing his brother's voice his eyes widened and he turned around, probably a little too quickly as he stumbled slightly.

"Tadashi…"

"I came to pay my respects too." Tadashi said simply, walking over to place a bouquet of flowers in between the graves.

"Did you know?" Hiro asked finally after a long pause between the two of them. He knew he didn't need to clarify, Tadashi would know what he was talking about.

"…Yes."

"Then why didn't you say something?! You could've…you could've stopped her." Hiro felt tears prickle behind his eyes, but he wouldn't allow himself to cry in front of Tadashi.

"I tried to tell someone before but…they wouldn't listen. It doesn't matter in any case." Tadashi turned to look directly at Hiro. The intensity of his gaze scared Hiro but he couldn't look away.

"Listen to me Hiro, this is important. Forget about Honey Lemon. She can't be saved."

Hiro felt like he had just been pierced through the heart. "…what?" His voice felt so small, so far away…

"Do you know what she wished for? She wished for the power to protect you and as unselfish as a wish that was it is ultimately hopeless. She will destroy herself and take you with her if you let her. Don't."

"Honey Lemon is my friend…" He hated how whiny he sounded. He felt so insignificant in comparison to Tadashi, always had, and it was never more apparent than right now.

"How can you be so cold…?"

Tadashi regarded Hiro with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Perhaps…it's because I'm no longer human."

And with that he left.

Hiro sank down to his knees, finally allowing the tears he had been holding in to fall.

It was the next night and Honey Lemon and Gogo were preparing to set out. Neither of them had mentioned what had happened with Honey Lemon's soul egg and neither of them intended to. Truthfully, they didn't want to think about it. And both were determined to throw themselves at witch hunting with renewed fervor.

"Hey, Gogo? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure. Whats up?" Gogo said over a mouth full of food. She had been raiding Honey Lemon's fridge all day and Honey Lemon tried not to think about how much shopping she would have to do to replace it all.

"What did you wish for?"

The food Gogo had been holding fell from her hands. "Shit…shit…umm, why do you want to know?"

"Well, I mean you know mine so I think it's only fair I know yours…"

Gogo thought about it for a moment. "Good point. Let's see, where do I start…? Ok well, I grew up in a large family and we were always so hungry ya know? I didn't have a dad so it was just my mom, me, and my sisters. My mom always worked so hard for us and I would try to help out in ah…less legal ways…anyways, one day I met Kyubey and when he offered me a contract I couldn't believe it ya know? It seemed like a fairy tale. So without thinking I wished for my family to never go hungry and to have everything they ever wanted."

Gogo turned her head away from Honey Lemon at that point. "It turned out, that what they didn't want was me. I mean I was always the black sheep of the family so I should have expected it but…it still hurt ya know? I became pretty jaded after that…anyways, that's my story so-ah hey!-"

Honey Lemon wrapped Gogo up in a warm hug. Her much taller form quickly dwarfing the smaller girl.

"Hey you don't have to-"

"Shush…it's happening so enjoy it."

Gogo was blushing furiously at this point. Physical affection was never her strong point but she had to admit…this felt nice.

Honey Lemon pulled back after a moment, a warm smile on her face. "You ready to go?"

"Y-yeah…"

Walking down the streets of San Fransokyo, Honey Lemon and Gogo were surprised to find Hiro.

"Hiro?" Honey Lemon asked him. She was a little wary, Hiro looked like he had been through hell. And she felt guilty that she hadn't contacted him at all today.

Hiro turned to face them. "Hey Honey-what the?!" He jumped back upon seeing Gogo.

"Calm down kid, I'm not gonna hurt ya."

"She's telling the truth Hiro. Gogo and I worked it out."

Hiro still looked unsure but if Honey was okay then…

"Okay…but how did that happen?"

"It's a long story…what are you doing out here anyways? Your aunt's probably worried."

Hiro waved her off. "She's fine. I'm good at sneaking out and not getting caught. I just needed some fresh air. Are you two going to hunt witches?"

"Yeah. We both need it."

"Can I…come with?"

Honey Lemon and Gogo shared a look. It wouldn't be the first time Hiro had come along and this time there was two witch hunters to protect him.

"Okay."

It had been a while but they finally found a witch and entered her domain. This witch was different than any either Honey or Hiro had seen. They were used to seeing witches labyrinths that were cluttered but this one was blindingly white and barren.

It was unsettling.

"There." Gogo said suddenly, pointing towards a pulsating pitch black mass.

"I'll take one side, you take the other. Kid, you stay here and stay out of our way."

"My name is Hiro…"

Gogo didn't listen to him, instead charging forward with her usual gusto. Honey Lemon shot him an apologetic look before joining her.

The witch was not willing to go down easily, despite there being two opponents. It shot out multiple sharp-ended tentacles and Honey Lemon and Gogo had to quickly dodge to get out of the way.

The pair made a good team it seemed. The two moved effortlessly in between each other and the witch, delivering blow after blow.

'It was going to be easy.'

Just as Hiro thought that something hard collided into his side and Hiro was flying.

Distantly he heard Honey shouting his name.

He landed, hard.

His head and side hurt…

His vision started to cloud and he saw Honey running towards him before everything went black.

Honey was screaming her head off and Gogo was trying to get her to focus.

"Hey, blondie the quicker you help me the quicker we can-"

"Shut up."

Gogo looked over at Honey Lemon, her blood ran cold. Gone was the girl from earlier and in her place was something different. Something dark.

"Get Hiro out of here."

"What? But-"

"I said get him out of here."

And with that she glared at Gogo with a look that wasn't human. Resisting the urge to run Gogo did as she said but only because she was terrified.

She wouldn't leave Honey Lemon however, so instead she took Hiro to a safer distance. She was ready to protect him with her body if she had to.

Honey Lemon viciously started to attack the witch. Gogo almost felt bad for it.

It started to scream and writhe with every attack but Honey Lemon would not let it recover. She kept pelting it over and over with bright pink balls that exploded on impact.

A sickening sound reverberated around the area as Honey Lemon was stabbed through the stomach. Several tentacles impaled her. But Honey Lemon hardly seemed fazed by it. She lifted up her hand; in it she held a glowing blue ball.

She threw it down on the tentacles and they froze before breaking with a downward jab of her arm.

The witch screamed in agony in such a way that Gogo had never heard before. It was almost…human.

"Hey…Honey…I think that's enough…"

No response.

Honey Lemon continued her assault. Her wounds seemed to be healing as time passed.

"Honey! That's enough!"

The witch started to dissolve and Honey Lemon turned towards Gogo. She looked…dead.

Something snapped within Honey and her eyes no longer held any life behind them.

And that scared Gogo more than anything.

Honey Lemon, the girl who was always so happy and full of life…now seemed to be completely void of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the anime Sayaka was very...apparent in her mental breakdown. I didn't want to do that with Honey Lemon. She struck me as the type to just completely shut down and operate only on base instincts.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a tumblr btw, my name is Lindorkurwa on there. Feel free to talk to me about this story or whatever. :3 
> 
> I was listening to a lot of DDR music while writing this. Caused a lot of conflicting emotions let me tell you.

"The doctor said he had a concussion and theres some bruising on his side but other than that he should be fine. Probably hurt like a bitch for a couple of days but he'll live. They're gonna keep him overnight."

Gogo and Honey Lemon had just taken Hiro to the hospital and we're currently in the waiting room. It had taken a while to get Honey out of her trance and when Gogo did she practically had to drag her here.

"Thank you for letting me know."

The dead tone in Honey Lemon's voice was really starting to piss Gogo off. It was like she was only half there.

"I told them he was hit by a drunk driver but that I didn't get a license plate. They seemed to buy it."

"I see. That's good."

Gogo sighed at how uninterested Honey seemed. "Look, we should probably get out of here. The kid has family right? I don't wanna be here when they come."

Honey Lemon nodded her head and Gogo had to lead her out of the hospital by the hand. She tried to ignore the worry building in the pit of her stomach.

"I have to go to the hospital."

Gogo looked up from her food. It was the next morning and she had stayed up all night with Honey, who seemed intent not to sleep at all. She hadn't eaten either, even with Gogo's coaxing.

"To see Hiro? The kid should be fine, besides he's probably home by now."

"No."

That was all Honey said as she got up from her chair, taking her full plate of food and depositing it in the sink.

"Hey! Honey, where are you-" Gogo sputtered but she was cut off by the slamming of a door.

"Unbelievable…" Gogo muttered under her breath before she ran after Honey Lemon. She couldn't stop her from leaving but she could at least follow her. Maybe stop her from doing something stupid. She wondered when she started to care so much.

Honey Lemon walked in a trance. She entered the hospital, going on autopilot to the same place she knew so well.

Honey Lemon couldn't quite place the feeling of dread she had as she rounded the corner to his room…

And then she knew why.

It was empty.

Fred's room was empty.

She felt like she couldn't breathe, the hair was standing up on the back of her neck.

Honey Lemon ran to find a nurse.

She had to know.

She had to.

"Oh that kid…were you a friend of his? I'm sorry but…he just kept getting worse. His family took him off life support yesterday."

Dead.

Fred was dead.

Honey Lemon felt like she might faint. The nurse was saying more but she didn't hear it over the pounding in her ears.

She shouldn't have but she ran. She didn't know where she was going to go all she knew was that she needed to get out of there. Everything smelled like death to her now and it was overpowering her.

She ran and she ran until she came to her house.

She didn't even know she was heading this way…

Gogo wasn't inside she noted as she entered. That was good.

It was too much. She needed to be alone right now. She needed…

Honey Lemon collapsed to the floor, violent sobs wracking her body.

She didn't know how long she had stayed like that. She cried and cried until she couldn't cry anymore and her whole body felt numb.

Honey Lemon heard footsteps coming towards her but she didn't move her head.

'It's probably Gogo…'

The footsteps stopped in front of her and Honey Lemon lifted her head slightly expecting to see Gogo. Instead she was greeted with the face of Hiro's older brother, Tadashi.

"What do you want?" Honey Lemon croaked out. Her voice was raw and achy from all the crying. She wished he would just go away…

"You need to replenish your magic." Tadashi held out his hand and Honey Lemon noticed a grief seed in his palm.

Honey Lemon was surprised with the anger that came over her. She slapped the seed out of his hand. "I don't need your pity!"

Tadashi watched it roll along the ground then turned to look at Honey Lemon once more. She was glaring at him with such intensity it would have frightened even the strongest person. But Tadashi just stared at her with the same blank expression.

"This isn't pity. I'm trying to help you. You need to replenish your magic before it's too late."

"Just go away! I don't want your help!" Honey Lemon screamed. She was past the point of sanity now, her eyes held nothing of the old Honey Lemon in them.

Tadashi regarded her calmly. "I see…then I'm sorry." He said before reaching behind him to pull out something…

It was a gun and Honey's eyes widened.

He pointed it at her, the cool metal of the gun pressing against her forehead. "If you won't accept my help then you leave me no choice. I have to spare Hiro the grief of seeing you like this."

Honey Lemon braced herself for a bullet that never came. A bright yellow flying disc came out of nowhere, knocking the gun out of Tadashi's hand.

"Get the fuck away from her!" A familiar voice yelled and suddenly Gogo was in front of Honey Lemon. He arms held out in a protective stance.

"Gogo…do you have any idea what you're doing?!" Tadashi practically screamed at Gogo, clutching his injured hand.

"I think I understand pretty well what I'm doing Tadashi. I'm protecting my friend from a psychopath."

Tadashi backed away slightly, pulling a small rounded object out of his pocket. He threw it on the ground and smoke erupted all around them. By the time it cleared, Tadashi was gone.

Gogo released a breathe she didn't realize she had been holding and turned to address Honey Lemon.

"You okay? He didn't hurt you did he?"

Honey Lemon said nothing. She was staring wide-eyed at the spot where Tadashi was, her whole body shaking uncontrollably.

Gogo didn't know what to do to comfort her friend. Or even how to get her back.

She bent down and hugged her, grateful that Honey Lemon didn't push he away.

For now, this would have to do.

Hiro had just been released from the hospital and despite telling his aunt that he was fine she insisted he stay in bed. He still felt groggy and a little dizzy but the doctor told him that was normal. Aunt Cass was the worst part of this whole thing. She had filled him in on what happened with his alleged "accident" (He assumed that was Gogo because Honey was incapable of a lie).

Understandably, she was pissed that he had sneaked out and gotten hurt. But the worst part was she wouldn't leave him alone. He was however finally able to get her to go by playing the "I'm hungry and I'm really craving food from across town" card. Maybe ending up in the hospital wasn't so bad if people were going to get him whatever he wanted out of sympathy.

"Hello Hiro, how are you feeling?" The voice of Kyubey filled Hiro's head and he turned to look at the small creature sitting on the windowsill watching him.

"Much better. Head still hurts though."

"Hmm…I see."

There was something bothering Hiro and he had to know. "Hey Kyubey, where's Honey Lemon?"

"She left for her home with Gogo after taking you to the hospital."

"I see…" The distance between him and Honey seemed to be growing and it hurt. Hiro missed his best friend.

"Are you upset with me as well Hiro?"

"…I don't know. Would you turn Honey Lemon back if I was?"

"That is beyond my power."

"I see…but if I became a witch hunter could I have the power to turn her back?"

"Most likely. You have so much latent talent Hiro. I wouldn't be surprised with anything you could do."

Hiro said nothing, his head felt fuzzy again.

"Your power is on a level that shouldn't even be possible." Kyubey continued. "It really is something. If you unleashed your power, the miracle you could unleash could twist the very fabric of the universe."

"I…always thought that Tadashi was the special one. I had the brain but he…he had the ability to actually do something with his life…"

"I'd say you have far surpassed your brother at this point. Hiro, if you wanted you could even become the god of this world."

"A god…? Then…would I be able to do things that even you can't do Kyubey? If I made a contract with you would I be able to make Honey Lemon human again?"

"That would be child's play for you. Would that be worth trading your soul for then?"

Hiro took a deep breathe. He was really going to do this and he was prepared. No matter what. "For Honey Lemon yes, I'll do it. Make me into-"

Suddenly, bullet holes appeared on Kyubey's body. The creature fell over limply onto Hiro's floor.

Hiro felt like he was going to be sick. He turned his head slowly towards the entrance of his room to see his brother standing there holding a gun and panting heavily. His eyes were wide and he looked like he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

"T-Tadashi…?" Hiro asked slowly. Upon hearing his name Tadashi looked over at Hiro and Hiro couldn't be sure but he looked like he was about to cry.

"Hiro. Thank God." The gun clattered to the floor and Tadashi walked shakily to Hiro's side and hugged him tightly. "I thought-I thought I was too late…"

Hiro pushed him away, anger clouding his mind. "How could you…you didn't have to kill him…"

Tadashi regarded Hiro sadly. "Yes, I did…you always…why do you always sacrifice yourself...Hiro, you're enough. Don't you see that? You don't need to do this…"

Tears were flowing freely from Tadashi eyes now. He gripped Hiro's shoulders harder but Hiro didn't notice the pain, he was too focused on his brother's emotional distress and his own anger.

"Stop being so foolish and think about all the people that would grieve if you passed. Think about all the people that have been trying so hard for you."

Images began to fill Hiro's mind. Images of Tadashi, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, and Gogo. Tadashi was the most prominent however. The strange thing was they were events that hadn't happened and yet Hiro knew they were familiar, like he had experienced them before.

Images of them fighting witches together…

Images of them laughing…

Hiro pushed Tadashi further away from him. He felt like he was going to suffocate and he had to get away.

"I have to-I have-" Hiro couldn't finish. He was frantically pulling at his bedsheets, trying to get free.

"Hiro you're-"

"I have to go Tadashi." Hiro said forcefully and Tadashi recoiled slightly. For a brief moment, Hiro felt bad but he was determined. He had to get away from his brother.

To Hiro's surprise, Tadashi didn't try to stop him. He seemed broken.

The door slammed shut leaving Tadashi alone with his thoughts.

A wet, slurping sound distracted Tadashi from his thoughts and he looked down at the floor only to see another Kyubey. It was eating the corpse of the one Tadashi had killed.

No…not a different one.

The same one.

Tadashi realized this with a cold shiver.

It lifted its head to stare at Tadashi. "You tried that once before didn't you? You should know by now, it won't work." The creature said, licking itself clean of the blood left on its paws and mouth.

"You were going to make a contract with my brother and I couldn't let that happen." Tadashi hated the creature with every fiber of his being. He wanted to destroy it, to tear it limb from limb. He knew it would never work but he still had to try.

"It is what he wanted. Besides, you can't stop it from happening. No matter how much you try. Hiro has potential and he will make a contract with me. Still, I must thank you for that. Because of it I finally realized what your power is. You're not from this timeline are you, Tadashi?"

Tadashi stared coldly at Kyubey. "I know what you are and what you're planning."

"I see. So that's why you've been trying so hard to stop me. Do you really want to change Hiro Hamada's fate that badly?"

"I will stop you, Kyubey." Tadashi glared down at Kyubey. "Or should I say "incubator"?"

"You should really eat."

"I'm not hungry."

Gogo practically had to drag Honey Lemon's nearly comatose body everywhere. This was her most recent attempt to get Honey Lemon to eat.

"Come one, you must be hungry."

"I said I'm not." Gogo recoiled slightly at the force behind Honey Lemons words. Her tone was harsh and different.

Gogo put the bowl of soup she had made for Honey Lemon down on the table. "Hey, Honey when was the last time you recovered your magic?"

Honey Lemon said nothing and Gogo sighed.

"Can I see it?" No response.

Gogo reached into Honey Lemons pocket. She had seen her pull it out from there a couple of times and she was grateful that Honey didn't try to stop her.

When Gogo saw it she gasped.

It was almost completely black.

"Hey Honey…this isn't good. I don't have any grief seeds on me but I can-"

"It's all my fault."

"W-what?" Gogo searched Honey Lemon's face looking for answers to what she was thinking. It was the same blank expression she had on before.

"It's my fault he died…I should've stopped it…"

"But Hiro's still-"

"No not Hiro. Someone else…"

Gogo was about to ask her who she meant but then Honey Lemon started to laugh softly. "It gets so trying you know? Having to be so happy all the time…pretending everything's okay…"

Honey Lemon started to cry and her egg slowly began to turn darker and darker.

"I'm sick of it all…"

Honey Lemon's egg burst, the darkness having spread to all of it. Gogo was pushed back with the force of the explosion.

Honey Lemon's limp form slumped forward and disappeared in the darkness as the world started to change around them.

Gogo screamed Honey Lemons name but she knew no answer would come.

This was something she recognized all too well.

This shouldn't have been possible.

Honey Lemon had turned into a witch and Gogo was in her labyrinth now.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took me so long to put on here. Husband had the weekend off and then life got in the way. ^^;

She was shaking uncontrollably as she walked down the streets of San Fransokyo.

Gogo knew what she had to do. What she was supposed to do.

She had to destroy it. That was her job, to hunt witches and yet…

She hugged herself tighter, her nails digging into her arms through the fabric of her jacket.

She was so useless.

Gogo just couldn't do it so instead she ran.

And that witch…no Honey Lemon…was still around to hurt someone else.

Gogo stopped in front of Honey Lemon's house. She didn't intend to come here but her body seemed to carry her here.

This place was more of a home to her than anywhere else…

But she knew she couldn't go inside.

So instead she stood outside, looking up at the walls of her friends house.

"Gogo…?"

Gogo spun around towards the familiar voice.

"Ah Hiro, what are you doing here? You should be resting, not that I care or anything…" Gogo was surprised with how normal she could make her voice sound.

"…I was looking for Honey Lemon…is she home?"

Gogo's body tensed up when Hiro mention Honey Lemon's name and she hoped he wouldn't notice.

What could she say to him?

This was Honey's best friend. He deserved to know.

"She…" Gogo took a deep breath. She could do this, she had to. "She's not here…she…I don't even know how to explain it…"

Hiro's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"I understand it now you know? What happens when we don't replenish our magic with grief seeds…we turn into witches…" Gogo said it so softly she wasn't sure if Hiro even heard her. But the sharp intake of breath told her all she needed to know.

"What does that mean? Where's Honey Lemon?!" Hiro was near hysterics now.

"I couldn't stop it…Honey, she…she turned into a witch and I couldn't…I couldn't stop her…"

Hiro felt like a bucket of ice water had been dumped on him. His whole body felt numb and there was a ringing in his ears.

A witch? Honey Lemon was a witch? But that would mean…

"We have to save her!" Hiro shouted. "There has to be a way! Please Gogo…"

Gogo just shook her head. "I don't know if there is a way Hiro…"

"How can you say that?! You're just going to give up-"

Hiro was suddenly cut off by Gogo lifting him up by the collar of his shirt. She brought his face close to hers.

"I'm. Not. Giving. Up." Gogo breathed, her nostrils flaring. There was a fire behind her eyes and it sent chills down Hiro's spine.

Gogi suddenly let go of Hiro's collar and he fell to the ground painfully.

"Go home kid and get some rest. I'll figure this out." Gogo said as she turned to walk away.

She would figure this out. There had to be a way to save Honey Lemon and she would find it.

Hiro really did not want to go back home. He figured Tadashi would be gone by now but that wasn't what worried him. What worried him was the likelihood of aunt Cass being home. She had to be by now after all and she would not be forgiving. It was stupid leaving his room when he had a concussion, Hiro knew that but he couldn't exactly tell her why he had to leave.

Hiro sighed as he saw the door to the Lucky Cat Café. This was not going to be fun…

"Hiro?! There you are! I was so worried…" Aunt Cass hugged him tightly as soon as she saw him enter. Tearstains covered her face and Hiro felt guilty for causing her distress.

She pulled back to look him over, checking for any injuries. As soon as she found none her entire demeanor changed. "Just what were you thinking?!" She said, an intense glare on her face.

Hiro ducked his head. "I know aunt Cass…can you just give me the lecture tomorrow or something? I just want to go to bed…"

That gave her pause. Now she was really worried, this didn't sound like her nephew at all.

She let him go to his room but her worry didn't subside for the rest of the night.

Hiro took refuge underneath his blankets. He had been crying himself raw, for how long he didn't know.

Everything hurt.

His best friend was gone but…Gogo said she would find a way right? There had to be hope.

Somehow though…Hiro doubted it would all work out.

"May I come in, Hiro?" The voice of Kyubey resounded from the windowsill. Hiro turned to look towards him. The fact he was alive did not surprise Hiro. He suspected Kyubey wouldn't be easy to kill.

"Yeah…whatever…" Hiro said as he opened the window to allow Kyubey inside. The creature made itself comfortable on his bed as he stared up at Hiro.

"Gogo told me…that Honey Lemon became a…" Hiro couldn't get the word out but Kyubey seemed to understand.

"Ah, that."

"You…don't sound surprised…you knew this would happen?"

"I did. Don't misunderstand, it is not done out of ill will towards the human race. Rather, we do it because it is necessary."

"Necessary? What does that even mean?" Hiro hugged himself tighter, he felt like he might be sick.

Kyubey regarded Hiro for a moment. "Hiro, do you know what the word entropy means?" When Hiro didn't respond Kyubey continued. "To give an example, the amount of heat energy a bonfire gives off is not equal to the amount of energy it took to grow the wood it's made of. In short, when energy changes form some of it is lost. As a result, the amount of usable energy in the universe is decreasing. So we began searching…for an energy source that wasn't bound by the laws of thermodynamics. And what we found was the power of the witch hunters."

Hiro lifted his head to look at Kyubey. "So…what are you then?"

"Our civilization created technology that could convert the emotions of a sentient life form into usable energy. Unfortunately, our species does not possess the ability to experience emotion. So we studied various species throughout the universe until finally we found you humans. With the size of your population and the rate of your reproduction, your species was the perfect candidate"

"And, the most effective of all are humans at the height of their development. Your emotions experience the greatest fluctuations at this stage. In the moment when your soul gems turn into grief seeds, enormous energy is created. It is the job of us incubators to collect that energy."

"Are we…just disposable energy supplies to you then…? Are you saying our only purpose is to die for you then?"

"Do you know how many species inhabit this universe? And how much energy they use in a single moment? Someday, you humans will be able to leave your planet and come join us. When that day comes, you wouldn't want to find the universe empty and desolate would you? If you look at it in the long run this is for your benefit as well."

"Don't be ridiculous!" Hiro shouted but Kyubey did not react at all. Instead, he continued to stare at Hiro with the same calm expression he had on the entire time. "How can you say any of this is okay?! How can you say that Wasabi and Honey had to…had to…die like that. All so you could do this? That's not right! That's not right at all…" Hiro broke down in tears.

Kyubey tilted his head to the side in confusion. "But we always ask for your permission before making the contract. Doesn't that show our good will?"

"But you trick us!"

"I'm not sure I understand what you mean by 'tricking'. Why is it that when humans regret a decision based on a misunderstanding they feel resentment towards the other party?"

Hiro buried his head in his hands. "I don't understand what you're saying at all…"

"It is us who've had such a hard time understanding. With a population as large as yours and increasing every day, why should you care about the loss of a tiny handful?"

"If that's how you think then Tadashi was right…you really are our enemy…"

"Despite that, I did come here to explain ourselves to you. I was hoping you would understand what incredible good your sacrifices have done for this universe. But I guess not."

"Of course not." Hiro said with as much hate as he could muster.

"Hiro, I still believe that one day you will become the greatest of all witch hunters. When that happens we will surely obtain an incomparable amount of energy. So if you ever feel like dying for the sake of the universe call me anytime. I'll be waiting." And with that Kyubey hopped out of Hiro's window.

Hiro crawled under his blankets and began to cry once more.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"You wanted to see me?"

"Yeah…I have a question for you."

Gogo sat in front of Kyubey in the abandoned apartment building she was squatting in. Ever since the incident with Honey Lemon she knew she could no longer stay there. It felt too much like her. And the fact that Honey Lemon's witch form took over her house played a huge factor in her decision. But she was trying not to think about that.

"I need to know, is it possible to save Honey Lemon?"

"That I do not know…the very existence of witch hunters is contradictory so if you could save her it would not surprise me."

"I see…" Gogo pondered this for a moment, an idea forming in her head. "I guess it can't hurt to try then."

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hiro insisted he go to school the next day and against his aunt's better judgment she relented. Honestly, Hiro needed the distraction and he needed to get out of his house.

But Hiro never got the chance to make it to his school before Gogo stopped him.

"What do you want?" Hiro asked. He winced at how harsh he sounded.

Gogo held up her hands. "Whoa chill, I'm not here to fight. I uh…have a plan. About Honey Lemon?"

Hiro tried his hardest not to get his hopes up. "Sorry about that…what is it?"

"I think we can jog her memory, make whatever's left of Honey Lemon in there come out again ya know? And to do that I need you."

"Me? Why do you need me?"

"Because you were her best friend. I mean, she gave away her life for you and all. Some part of her has to remember right?"

Hiro thought about it for a moment. It did make sense but…what if it didn't work? It would be like losing her all over again.

But he had to try.

"Let's do it."

Hiro and Gogo made their way to Honey Lemon's house. It still looked the same, for the most part.

"I hope her parents are okay…" Hiro said. Gogo didn't acknowledge his comment. She felt bad that she hadn't even thought about them truthfully.

"As soon as we enter the house we'll be transported into her maze. Are you ready?"

Hiro nodded and the two of them walked forward into Honey Lemon's house. True to what Gogo said, the moment they entered the world changed.

Hiro blinked. He didn't know what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn't this.

Everything was a mix of bright pinks, yellows, and blues. There were large stuffed animals of every kind all around them. It was Honey Lemon all right.

Gogo pulled out her soul gem. "Come on, lets find her."

It didn't take long. Almost on cue, Honey Lemon's witch form charged at them in a haze of bright pinks.

Gogo reacted quickly, pushing Hiro out of the way and taking the brunt of the attack. She blocked it with her weapons but the sheer force knocked her back.

Hiro looked up at what was now Honey Lemon. It was a tiny stuffed rabbit, pure white and wearing a simple pink dress. Around its neck was tied a bright pink ribbon in a bow.

"Hiro! Say something to her!"

Hiro snapped out of his daze and prepared himself.

'Here goes nothing.' He thought.

"Honey it's me. It's me, Hiro."

Honey Lemon's witch turned to stare at him and for a brief moment Hiro allowed himself to hope.

But then she sent one of her ribbon tails towards Hiro. It wrapped around his throat and he struggled for breath.

"No!" Gogo shouted and Hiro was cut free by one of her flying discs.

She stood in front of him and addressed Honey Lemon. "Honey Lemon don't you recognize us? Were your friends…please…come back to us…to me."

Gogo was sent flying by another one of Honey Lemon's attacks.

Distantly, Gogo heard Hiro shouting her name as she struggled to get up. She coughed up blood and she noticed a sharp pain in her side. If it wasn't for her magic she'd probably be seriously injured.

Gogo wobbled to her feet just as Honey Lemon attacked her once more.

'Is this payback?' She wondered. 'We tried to kill each other the first time we met didn't we…?'

Another attack and more pain. Gogo wondered how much more her body could take.

'It wasn't going to work was it' She thought. 'It was never going to work.'

She was so sure of herself. So sure she could change her friends fate but now…now she may have cost an innocent kid his life.

'No…' She thought. 'This isn't what Honey Lemon would want.'

Gogo stood up, fresh resolve on her face. She had to finish this and she wouldn't let Hiro go down with her. There was only one way this could end.

Gogo threw one of her flying discs at Hiro and it expanded around him, forming a protective bubble.

"Gogo what-" Hiro stared at her with his mouth agape.

Briefly, she turned towards him and smiled. "Sorry kid…guess it wasn't going to work after all…"

Hiro shouted her name, his fists banging against the surface of the protective shield.

He watched in despair as Gogo charged towards Honey Lemon. The two of them exploded in a haze of color. Pink and yellow entwined themselves together.

Hiro screamed until his voice became raw. He screamed even after the magic of the shield came undone signifying what had happened.

His best friend was gone and now…so was Gogo.

Hiro had never felt more alone.

And that was how Tadashi found Hiro, still staring off into space. He did not protest when Tadashi picked him up to take him home.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"You knew didn't you?" Tadashi asked from the comfort of his small apartment building. The walls were littered with information about witches and old legends. Papers were strewn about everywhere. If anyone had known Tadashi previously they would have said this couldn't possibly be his room.

"If you mean Gogo's plan to save Honey Lemon then yes…I knew it was impossible."

Tadashi gritted his teeth. He had meant to get there sooner, had meant to do so many things differently. "Then why tell her it was?"

Kyubey tilted his head. "Because Tadashi, I knew that Gogo would die along with Honey Lemon. That means that only you are left to fight Walpurgisnacht and you will fail. Which means that Hiro Hamada will be forced to form a contract with me in order to save you."

"I won't allow that to happen."


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ughh this one was hard to write. I wanted to make sure it was perfect since it's all the backstory and stuffs. I was looking forward to this one cause it's from Tadashi's perspective. :3
> 
> I hope it's not too confusing. If you've seen the anime then you know how this part jumps around a lot and it's pretty vague on a lot of details. This definitely tested my writing abilities and I hope I did it justice.

The Hamada brothers had always been geniuses, everyone knew it. And although this gave their aunt much grief it didn't stop her from loving them any less.

Boredom came easily to the two brothers and while Tadashi had grown out of it, Hiro had not. It was for this reason that Tadashi developed and planted a tracking device on his younger brother's (who had a tendency to sneak out because of said boredom) clothes.

It was because of this tracking device that Tadashi found out something about his brother he almost wished he hadn't.

That his younger brother was spending his evenings hunting witches with his best friend Honey Lemon.

Naturally, Tadashi was not pleased. He even tried to get Hiro to stop and when that wouldn't work he settled for joining them as a bystander. Hiro scoffed at that. After all, how could Tadashi protect him? Hiro was invincible.

Two weeks later and that thing showed up. Tadashi would later learn it was called Walpurgisnacht.

It was big, easily towering over much of the city. Tadashi wondered how his brother and Honey Lemon could fight it. It seemed hopeless.

And then Honey Lemon died and Tadashi knew.

He knew for sure it was hopeless.

That's why he tried to stop him.

"You can't fight that thing! You'll die…Hiro please lets just-"

"I have to Tadashi. If I don't, who will?"

He smiled then. A sad smile that felt like a farewell and he was gone. Tadashi watched him fight a losing battle.

"Hiro…why…?" Tadashi sobbed as he cradled the broken and frail body of his younger brother. Walpugisnacht was still destroying the city but Tadashi didn't care.

"Kyubey…you asked me once…if I wanted to become a witch hunter too." Tadashi addressed the small creature watching him intently. "The answer is yes. I want to become like Hiro and this time, I want the power to redo everything. I want the power to protect Hiro."

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tadashi woke up suddenly. He wondered briefly if it had all been some horrible dream but he knew it couldn't have been. It was too real.

But he had a chance to fix it. Excitement flooded through him.

He got up out of bed and walked over to his brothers' side of the room. Hiro was still sleeping, snoring loudly with his limbs splayed out in all directions.

Tadashi hugged him roughly, effectively cutting Hiro's sleep short.

"Tadashi wha-" Hiro sputtered out, still half asleep.

Tadashi mumbled something into Hiro's shoulder that sounded vaguely like 'shut up'.

Suddenly, Tadashi pulled away from Hiro and held him at arm's length. Hiro was a little uncomfortable with how intently Tadashi was staring at him but before he could say anything Tadashi spoke.

"I know what you do at night. I know you're a witch hunter and I'm one too."

Hiro's eyes widened. "You-what? How did you-"

"Never mind that. I want to join you two."

"Uhh….kay?"

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"So, what is your ability then?" Hiro asked. He was still a little unsure about having his older brother tag along with him and Honey Lemon. The three of them had chosen to meet at Honey Lemon's house.

"Umm…I'm actually not sure. I have this though." Tadashi held out his arm, activating the power of his soul gem like he had seen Hiro and Honey Lemon do so many times before. A silver shield like object appeared attached to his arm.

"You don't know…?" Honey Lemon asked, her head tilting to one side. She was a little more excited to have someone help out her and Hiro and Tadashi seemed nice.

Tadashi rubbed the back of his neck, a nervous habit of his. "Yeah…should I try it out?"

"It's not going to explode is it? Because that would be really bad…" Honey Lemon said while backing up slightly and eyeing Tadashi's weapon with a wary expression.

"I don't think so…?"

"Let's go outside just in case." Hiro suggested.

Tadashi's weapon, it turned out, could manipulate time.

"Whoa…that's a really powerful ability. It'll be hard to fight with though…" Honey Lemon said in awe.

"That's fine. I can practice. I'll need a weapon though…"

Hiro gave Tadashi a look bordering on maniacal. Tadashi wasn't sure he liked that look.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"How is it you know how to do this…?" Tadashi asked Hiro, although he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer to that. He had just watched him put together a bomb in their garage.

Hiro shrugged. "You're always busy with college stuff now…I get bored."

Tadashi wasn't sure he liked that answer but decided not to press the issue.

"Okay so with this you should be good. Just gotta have good aim is all. All those baseball practices aunt Cass made us go to should come in handy now right?" Hiro playfully jabbed Tadashi in the stomach with his elbow. He looked happier that Tadashi had ever seen him and Tadashi couldn't help but return Hiro's grin with one of his own.

Tonight, they were going to fight Tadashi's first witch.

And Tadashi would make sure that nothing took away Hiro's happiness.

Two weeks had passed. Two very long weeks until finally the day Tadashi had been dreading came.

Walpurgisnacht towered over the city once more but they won.

Honey Lemon had been lost in the fight but they won.

Tadashi had succeeded in saving his brother. Hiro would be saddened by Honey Lemon's death sure but he was alive at least. And for that Tadashi was grateful.

But then, Hiro fell to the ground.

"Whats wrong?!" Tadashi quickly rushed to his side, hoping that he was only distraught over losing his friend. Hoping that he wasn't hurt.

"I'm sorry Tadashi…I think I overdid it a little bit…" Hiro turned and smiled at his brother, he was crying.

And then Tadashi noticed his soul gem. It was pitch black.

"Hiro…It's going to be okay, we can fix-"

Hiro's soul gem burst then and Tadashi was thrown back. He watched as his younger brother turned into a witch and without even thinking about it Tadashi activated his weapon.

He would do it over again.

And this time he wouldn't fail.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tadashi once again woke up with a jolt. His mind was still disturbed from what he had seen previously.

Hiro had turned into a witch and their soul gems were ticking time bombs.

He understood it all so clearly now and he had to warn them as soon as he could.

But it would not be so simple.

"I don't know Tadashi…why would Kyubey lie to us like that? He hasn't given us any reason not to trust him." Wasabi said. He, Honey Lemon, Gogo, Hiro, and Tadashi were having a meeting. "Besides, what proof do you have?"

Tadashi ducked his head. "I don't have any…but I know what I saw. Please, you have to believe me!"

Silence passed over the group. Tadashi looked to Hiro for support but Hiro just looked conflicted.

No one was going to believe him. Tadashi was on his own.

"Look dude, I know you mean well and all. I mean you seem nice, even though we haven't known each other for long but…it's just kind of far-fetched ya know?" Gogo said.

"Right, right…forget I said anything."

"Tadashi-"

"It's okay Hiro, just forget I said anything."

Gogo spoke up then, she was never a fan of awkward silences. "Okay so, on another note we need to talk tactics. Tadashi, I get that your brother is…weirdly good at building bombs but it's kinda making me nervous ya know? Could you maybe use something that doesn't….I don't know, have a chance to blow me up as well?"

"Yeah…I'll think of something."

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This was the dumbest idea he had ever had.

Granted, it was Hiro's (of course) but still.

After their meeting Hiro pulled Tadashi aside and told him his plan: steal weapons from the police station.

The worst part was how Hiro made it sound like it was no big deal.

Under normal circumstances Tadashi would have said hell no but these were not normal circumstances and Hiro's life was at stake.

Tadashi just kept reminding himself of that as he froze time and raided the police station armory.

That night was supposed to be spent hunting another witch, as usual. What none of them expecting was for that witch to be one of their own.

Tadashi saved them all from Honey Lemon's witch form. He didn't want to do it but Hiro had frozen up because he couldn't fight his best friend.

"What was that…?" Wasabi asked after the world had turned normal once more. "She just…she turned into one of those things…"

"I don't know man but freaking out is not going to-" Gogo didn't get to finish that sentence before Wasabi stabbed her soul gem, effectively killing Gogo.

Tadashi immediately placed himself in front of Hiro as Wasabi turned his attention to them. "She was going to…we're all going to become like that…I can't allow that I'm sorry…"

Wasabi was becoming hysterical and Tadashi knew there was no reasoning with him. He would make it quick.

A single shot rang out as Wasabi slumped backwards, a bullet hole in his forehead. Taking Wasabi's soul gem out of his grasp Tadashi then stomped on it. It shattered and Tadashi watched as the light left his former friends eyes.

Tadashi wondered how messed up he had to be to not feel any sympathy or hesitation. He only knew it was what he had to do in order to save his brother.

A sob from behind him broke him out of his thoughts and he quickly kneeled down at Hiro's side.

"They're all dead…Tadashi…what do we do now…?" Hiro whispered softly.

Tadashi grasped Hiro by the shoulders and forced him to look into his eyes. "Listen to me, we're going to be just fine okay? I'll never let anything happen to you. We can do this. Together."

And Hiro almost believed him.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"We did it." Hiro breathed out. His and Tadashi's bodies had been badly damaged in the fight with Walpurgisnacht. But the two of them had beaten her and Hiro was alive. That was all that mattered to Tadashi.

"Yeah…I think…my soul gem's in pretty bad shape though…" Tadashi said in between pants.

"Hehe…mine too…"

"You got any grief seeds?"

"Nope." Hiro actually laughed at that even though the situation was far from humorous.

"I see…it's okay though…I'm fine with this…turning into a witch doesn't sound so bad like this…at least we're together right…?" Tadashi closed his eyes and smiled. Yes, being a witch didn't sound so bad so long as Hiro was with him.

A clink sounded next to Tadashi and his eyes shot open to investigate. Hiro was smiling at him. A sad smile that didn't reach his eyes and in his hand was a grief seed placed onto Tadashi's soul gem.

"Sorry…I guess I lied huh?"

Tadashi's eyes widened, Hiro had saved him but at the cost of his own life.

"No, Hiro! Why? Why would you do that?!"

"Because I want you to live Tadashi…promise me…promise me that next time…you'll prevent me from becoming like this…from becoming a witch hunter…"

"I will! I promise you I will!"

Hiro smiled at that and Tadashi knew he didn't have much longer before he would become a witch.

Tadashi couldn't stand to see his brother turn into one of those things. He averted his gaze as he activated his weapon to go back in time.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tadashi woke up calmly in comparison to what he was used to.

Hiro was still sleeping and Tadashi sighed in relief. He had time.

Meticulously, he began packing essentials that he needed. To do what he was planning he couldn't stay at his house anymore.

Tadashi had a mission: he would prevent his brother from becoming a witch-hunter and he would find and kill all the witches. He would kill every last one so his brother wouldn't have to fight anymore.

Walpurgisnacht appeared again and up until now Tadashi had succeeded in preventing Hiro from forming a contract with Kyubey.

But Tadashi wasn't doing so well. He was losing the battle but he knew he had to keep going.

An attack flung Tadashi through a building and momentarily dazed him. He looked towards his brother, his reason for fighting, for strength.

Tadashi's eyes widened at what he saw. Hiro was with Kyubey and it was clear, his brother was about to make a contract.

Tadashi screamed Hiro's name, anything to make him stop. But he was too late. Hiro transformed in a dazzling display of purple light.

Hiro, now clad in purple armor, turned his attention to Walpurgisnacht. He raised his weapon, an intricately detailed bow, and fired taking out Walpurgisnacht in one hit.

Hiro turned to look at Tadashi then, a smile on his face.

And Tadashi knew then that Hiro had expended too much magical energy with that attack.

He watched as his brother turned into a witch far bigger than Walpurgisnacht.

"I didn't think it would turn out this way. He may destroy the world in the near future. Well, it doesn't matter to me so long as we meet our quota." Kyubey said to Tadashi as the two of them watched Hiro's witch form rain down destruction on the world.

Tadashi said nothing and kept his face blank as he turned to walk away.

"Hey where are you going? Aren't you going to fight him?

"My fight is elsewhere." Tadashi said, still walking away. The shield on his arm made a clinking sound as the gears within turned.

He would go back and do it over. Again and again no matter how long or how many times it took.

He would keep doing it over, reliving this nightmare, all for Hiro's sake.

No longer would he trust anyone. He did not need them to understand his reasons or his methods.

All he knew was that Hiro was the only thing that mattered and he would not stop until he was safe.


End file.
